Kathryn Johnston Update 2

Here's an interview with the informant, Alex White. Apparently he's been used in "dozens" of prior investigations– worth keeping in mind as police continue to try to impugn his reputation (which, admitedly, won't be difficult to do).  Note that one anonymous police source alerted the reporter to an unsanctioned marijuana purchase that led to White's dismissal from the CI program. Of course, they let him right back on.

Meanwhile, the APD's PR department has shifted into high gear. They've released the "exemplary" personnel files of the narcotics officers to the media. Nothing but commendations for these seven cops.

The personnel files on the officers contain a number of documents. They include standardized job appraisal forms, oath of office forms, personnel data sheets, personal weapons requests, commendations, and police academy information.

Nothing in the personnel records for the five officers suggests they would likely be embroiled in such a controversial case.

[…]

The officers' personnel files show their ratings in basic job categories tended toward the superlative. The evaluations look at areas such as punctuality, community policing, use of time, and work quantity and leadership.

But wait a minute. Didn't we just read that one of the officers was reprimanded for traffic violations, and accused in a lawsuit of lying about the accident in question, leading to a $450,000 settlement funded by Atlanta taxpayers?

Yes. We did.

Police officials say they released what they consider complete files. However, a written reprimand Tesler was to receive for a ticket he earned for his involvement in a head-on collision was absent from his file.

The reprimand was mentioned in court papers related to a lawsuit stemming from the 2001 crash with a motorcyclist that resulted in a $450,000 settlement by the city.

Makes you wonder if anything else was accidentally left out of the files before they were released to the media.