Cops Who Filed Complaint Now Under Investigation

SANDY SPRINGS, GA -- The three officers who have levied complaints against the Sandy Springs Police Department are under investigation by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.

That's according to Ryan Powell, director of the Georgia P.O.S.T. Council's Operations Divisions. Powell said former officers Ron Momon and Lawrence Joe, both former sergeants with the police department, and Capt. Glenn Kalish, who is currently employed with the agency, are all the subject of the investigation.

The Georgia P.O.S.T. Council "administers the regulatory process, sets the standards for training and certification, and provides essential technical assistance to the law enforcement community," according to its website.

While Powell declined to go into details about the nature of the probe, Momon said the investigation "isn't anything out of the ordinary," as demotions are automatically investigated by P.O.S.T.

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The trio was demoted one rank and placed on a 12-month probation period by Sandy Springs City Manager John McDonough for violating the department's rules of conduct and grievance procedures when they alleged members of the command staff berated civilian and sworn employees.

Momon, who said he believes P.O.S.T. will see the department's investigation was "bogus," contends they were initially investigated for violating the city's grievances procedures. However, according to Momon, they never filed a grievance with the city.

"We sent an informal letter to the mayor to hopefully generate a meeting with him, which of course never happened," he added. "P.O.S.T. has notified all of us that they are investigating our demotions. We are confident that P.O.S.T. will clearly see that this was a retaliatory investigation by the city for exposing the chief of police."

Momon goes on to contend that the "long-standing friendship" between McDonough and Police Chief Ken DeSimone "was definitely a factor in the department not doing a thorough investigation."

The city states that two investigations into the officers' complaints were carried out, and it was determined they had "little to no first-hand knowledge of the complaints and made little to no effort to verify the claims."

"In addition, the three senior-level officers were advised by the HR (human resources) director to put their complaints in writing which they did not do," city spokesperson Shraon Kraun previously said in a statement. "Instead, they chose to bypass the city’s well-established dispute resolution process that all officers are made aware of, and in fact, sign off as receiving."

Kraum previously Sandy Springs' policy goes through every level in an officer's chain of command, up to and including the city manager. Beyond that step, there's an additional step that allows for the appointment of an independent officer to review the facts and make a recommendation to the city manager.

Kraun also notes DeSimone recused himself from the case once the internal investigation was opened.

The city's deputy chief of police's initially recommended termination for Momon and the two others involved, but McDonough opted for the probation and demotion route. That decision, Kraun stated, included the opportunity for the officers to be assessed for promotion.

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