September 14, 2009 at 7:21 pm by Patrick Saunders in News
There were four notable things to take from Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington’s press conference today about the Sept. 10 raid at Atlanta Eagle:
The Atlanta Police Department received a complaint in May about alleged illegal behavior taking place at the Eagle. Undercover officers visited the club on two separate occasions before Thursday’s raid. The officers said they witnessed sex between patrons at one or both of these two occasions, but not at last week’s raid. SoVo notes a police report about the Sept. 10 raid in which one undercover officer claimed he “observed two men in what appeared to be a sexual act” but “could not get a good visual due to the extreme low light in the room.”
Pennington says he regrets that he didn’t notify Officer Danni Lynn Harris, the department’s liaison to the LGBT community, about the raid. He says Harris should have been present.
Pennington says patrons were frisked for the officers’ safety.
Pennington apologized for the incident.
Which begs the following questions:
If public sex was the only illegal activity that the Eagle was being investigated for, and the officers did not witness any sex during last Thursday’s raid, why did they detain everyone for up to two hours after the fact?
Is investigating public sex inside the bars and clubs of Atlanta a priority of the APD?
Are there ongoing investigations into other Atlanta bars and clubs where public sex is allegedly taking place?
What’s the timeline for the investigations into multiple accusations of officers’ excessive use of force and anti-gay slurs against the Eagle patrons?
If those allegations are proven true, what punishment is being considered? What will be done to educate officers to lessen the possibility of this happening again?
Am I missing anything else?
UPDATE: Project Q Atlanta reports that Atlanta Eagle co-owner Richard Ramey disputes Pennington’s claim of sex taking place at the bar:
“If an Atlanta police officer was in my bar and saw any illegal activity, they should have made arrests,” Ramey says. “If they saw it, why didn’t they make an arrest? All they are wanting to do is take the attention away from them and what their officers did.”
Organizers of yesterday’s rally at the Eagle quickly moved into action after Pennington’s press conference, making plans for a protest at the State Capitol this Saturday, September 19 at 12:00 p.m. ()
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Tags: APD, atlanta eagle, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington, Atlanta-police, Atlanta-Police-Department, Chief-Pennington, Chief-Richard-Pennington, eagle, gay, gay rights, LGBT, police, Police Chief Richard Pennington, raid.
September 14th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Personally, I want to know why the Atlanta PD can’t just treat the LGBT community with common decency and respect. They shouldn’t need a special liason to make sure that their officers act lawfully and respectfully in a gay club!
September 14th, 2009 at 10:03 pm
I agree with you Kristen.
Patrick Saunders’s questions are what I am interested in too – I want to know what the APD’s policy and procedures are for this type of thing. I suspect that they either don’t have a documented procedure or they violated procedure or else the procedures are very flawed. I really don’t think an apology is going to cut it.
September 14th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Pennington’s too-long run at the APD has been a train wreck. Another of Shirley’s bad hires.
We need change we can believe in. Throughout the entire city government.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:03 am
I want to know the origin of the complaint to APD. What about the report that it came from Peggy Denby’s group in Midtown? Why and how did this raid–which consumed a huge amount of APD resources–get on the police priority list?
September 15th, 2009 at 9:24 am
@Thomas Jonathan – you will find the answer to your question here: http://www.sundaypaper.com/Blogs/TheRamageReport/tabid/235/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/4501/Default.aspx
September 15th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Based on what I read on the Sunday Paper’s website, the raid looks justified. The real question is really whether is was conducted correctly.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I see that APD is all over presumed sex-acts in gay bars, but can’t be bothered with the 24/7 open-air prostitution and drug market that takes place along Boulevard and Ponce just a few blocks up the road. I wonder if its because the cops are not afraid of getting shot in the Eagle.
Also, kudos to Pennington for his lucid answers during the press conference, um…uh, you know? What a fucking disaster he is.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Where’s Peggy? Why doesn’t she speak for herself, Steve? She’s mixed up with Turpeau of the infamous race memo; she’s running around with the Republican Campaign for Atlanta crowd; and now this gay raid occurs on her beat at the height of the town’s political season. Is she working for Mary or is she still on Shirley’s payroll, which would mean she’s working against Mary? Smells like an agent provocateur, n’est-ce pas?
September 15th, 2009 at 10:51 am
The raid was such a ridiculous waste of resources. One would think that by now Pennington could figure out that using 21 police officers to hassle gay people in their own club just angers those of us who live intown who have experienced an increase in property crime — due, in large part, to the diminished presence of police on our streets.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:47 am
RE: Mr. Gower’s comments regarding Denby denial of involvement in Eagle raid.
Mr. Gower,
No, your response in Ms. Ramage’s column does not fully answer the question regarding Ms. Denby that was asked below. Let me repeat the response to your posting in the Sunday Paper:
“Many in the community have mixed feelings about Ms. Denby, her involvement in neighborhood groups, her reputation as perhaps an overly agressive “activist”, and some of her statements/actions in the past, which could potentially indicate prejudicial views towards both the GLBT and African Amercan communities.
Having worked with her twice on specific issues, on one occasion I found her to be very effective, helpful and a pleasure to work with. On another issue, I found her unwilling to correct a serious mistake on the part of the MPSA and totally inflexible, to the point that a lawsuit would have been filed against MPSA had not the issue been resolved through alternative channels.
That said, that type of inflexibility and personal history of “activism” has no doubt caused many to question if she is in any way, remotely or otherwise, involved in the actions which led APD to raid the Eagle.
If she has absolutely no involvement whatsoever, then I find it peculiar that she, as President of the MPSA, has not issued her own clear personal statement denying any role in the Eagle incident.
While Mr. Gower’s apologia on behalf of Ms Denby and the MPSA is impressive and articulate, many in the community would like to see Ms. Denby speak for herself on the Eagle raid issue rather that through a third party.”
Nuff said.
September 15th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Peggy Denby’s too busy with Liz Coyle meet and greets, BOR. Could be good strategy to remind D6 straights about the nasty things gays get up to in scuzzy spots like this Eagle place? That knocks Brodie and Wan out of the contest. Then Liz gets to reclaim D6 for straight land flippers.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
to “Borders on the ridiculous”:
Your question about Denby involvement is viable, however there is no indication she is involved in the Norwood campaign.
However, Denby is allegedly an active supporter and very heavily involved in the campaign of District 6 City Council candidate Liz Coyle.