Morrow chief resigns; could lose police certification

Morrow Police Chief Jeff Baker resigned late Thursday.

Weeks after an arrest for allegedly driving his police vehicle drunk, the embattled south metro top cop stepped down.

"Mr. Baker tendered his resignation to me today," Morrow city manager Jeff Eady told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

This announcement came after Baker had missed one meeting Tuesday to learn what disciplinary action the city would take and a deadline Eady set to meet by next Tuesday.

When Baker, who had been placed on paid administrative leave following the Nov. 16 arrest, skipped the Tuesday meeting with Eady to learn the results of an internal investigation, Eady turned up the heat, cutting Baker's pay.

“If you’re going to postpone a meeting to discuss your future with the city, the taxpayers are not going to continue to pay your salary,” Eady told the AJC. “My findings were complete at that time and I was ready to share them with the chief.”

Baker later gave Eady his resignation.

Baker could not be reached Thursday for comment.

Baker is accused of, among other things, driving drunk in his city-issued police car and having opened beverages inside the vehicle.

When he was arrested, one of his own officers discovered Baker asleep at the wheel of the police car at a traffic light, with eight opened and partially drunken beer bottles inside, according to police.

Eady acknowledged that Baker was “in violation of city rules and regulations,” pointing to a city policy prohibiting employees from drinking alcohol in city-owned vehicles.

Morrow Mayor James Millirons said neither he nor the city council had any bearing in what punishment Baker should suffer.

“It’s the city manager’s prerogative to fire him,” Milirons said.

But that isn’t the last of Baker’s concerns.

When the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council convenes next week, a recommendation could be made to revoke Baker’s police certification.

Without that certification, he can’t be a lawman in Georgia.

“This [case] is moving a lot faster than most,” Georgia P.O.S.T. executive director Ken Vance told the AJC. “But most of the investigation has been done. The case is what it is.”

Although a move could be made to revoke Baker’s certification, there’s also the chance that this case could be pegged to a previous revocation that remains unresolved.

In 2008, Georgia P.O.S.T. accused Baker of lying about police firearm records, falsifying documentation of firearm training, including his own, and voted unanimously to revoke his certification.

Baker appealed to the state’s administrative law judge, and the case has remained in a holding pattern since, Vance said.

Capt. Greg Tatroe was named the interim head of police when Baker was placed on leave, and he will remain in that position until a new chief is selected, Eady said.

A search and selection process will begin immediately.

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