SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — A former detective says he was fired for trying to expose police corruption.
He recorded the meeting with the chief that led up to his termination.
Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes reported the former detective, Avery Bragg, is now suing the city and his former police chief.
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South Fulton Police Chief Keith Meadows said he cannot say much about the allegations against him because a civil suit has been filed.
But a spokesperson said they’ll have plenty to say when the time is right, and the chief is considering litigation for what he’s calling false allegations.
“It’s just the fear of retaliation, and that’s why no one spoke up,” Bragg said.
He said he filed the civil lawsuit against Meadows and the city last week for several reasons.
He says Meadows tried to stop him from reporting bullying within the department and fired him after he sent his entire internal affairs complaint to the mayor and city council.
Bragg says he tried to follow the chain of command initially. But he went over the police department’s head when the person he tried to report found about his complaint and confronted him before it was officially filed.
“I knew I was going to get fired,” Bragg said. “I knew at that point because of what I did, he was either gonna fire me in that meeting or be retaliatory in nature.”
His attorney, Mario Williams, says Meadows wanted Bragg to stick to the chain of command, even though Bragg said his complaint was going nowhere.
“Let me tell you what chain of command really means: You can’t go to the mayor or the city council about anything because I said so,” Williams said. “And I don’t care about your First Amendment rights. I don’t care if you’re trying to expose something that you believe is corrupt, you don’t do it. You go to the supervisors, and they come to me. So, what does that mean? I can shut it down anytime I want.”
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