Officer-Involved Shootings Straining Resources at Georgia Bureau of Investigation

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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is concerned about stretching itself too thin with the rash of officer-involved shootings this year.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GBI Director Vernon Keenan says the bureau needs more resources now that both DeKalb and Gwinnett County police have asked them to handle all officer-involved shootings which result in a death or serious injury.

Keenan told WSB-TV that the increased requests from law enforcement agencies to investigate their officer-involved shootings has “put a lot of strain” on the bureau. Keenan added that there was no margin of error for investigations into officer-involved shootings, which are now up to one per week in Georgia.

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Only Atlanta and Cobb County still conduct their own internal investigations, the AJC said.

The extra, independent level of scrutiny is designed to “meet the critical need of assuring the public of clear transparency regarding these types of incidents,” an internal memo obtained by WSB-TV from Gwinnett Police Chief Butch Ayers to his officers read.

Local community activist Marcus Coleman told WSB-TV that the measure is akin to “putting a Band-Aid on a wound that requires sutures,” and added that the independent investigations won’t stop the shootings.

Smyrna police have asked the GBI to investigate the March 24 shooting of 23-year-old Nicholas Thomas, who was killed when a Smyrna police sergeant fired on a Maserati Thomas was driving in the parking lot of the Goodyear Tire where he worked. Police were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Thomas at the time.

Read more about the GBI’s investigations into officer-involved shootings at the AJC.