DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man says he reported drug activity in his neighborhood about 20 times over the last two years. Yet, he says not one officer showed up to investigate.
He showed Channel 2′s Tom Jones emails where the new county CEO, Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, is now investigating the matter.
“They were not doing their job,” Scott Smithwick said.
He says he called the DeKalb County Police Department’s tip line to report drug activity at a home in his neighborhood near Snapfinger Road several times.
“Not one single time did the county get back to us,” he said.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Smithwick says he even sent pictures of county employees in county vehicle repeatedly stopping at the alleged drug house for personal activity. He says the activity got so out of hand, customers of the house would mistakenly knock on his door.
“I had to mow the grass with a pistol on my side,” Smithwick said.
Smithwick decided to reach out to new county CEO Lorraine Cochran Johnson.
“I told her the story of what was going on,” he said.
He sent Jones emails where Johnson responded, where she cc’d Police Chief Mirtha Ramos and others.
Johnson pointed out to the group that Smithwick hadn’t heard from anyone. The CEO requested protocols for the tip line and asked for list of all calls from the last three months and the status of each call.
“I think she’s trying to clean up the county,” Smithwick said.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Young Thug wants back cars, cash and jewelry seized during YSL raid
- GA man sentenced for blowing up woman’s house, threatening to feed her child to python
- Couple found shot to death in their own bed in Carroll County
Smithwick sent Jones an email where the chief apologized for what he went through. She said she was revamping the tipline, and sent out undercover officers to the neighborhood.
Smithwick said the man in the drug house had moved out by then.
Days later Smithwick heard the news that Chief Ramos is on leave, but Johnson didn’t say why.
Smithwick says the timing of it all suggests the tip line incident played a role.
“The buck stops with the chief,” he said.
Channel 2 Action News has seen no evidence Smithwick’s incident and Ramos being placed on leave are connected.
Jones reached out to the CEO and Ramos for a comment and did not hear back.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
