Only on AP: Chief talks of Atlanta police sick-out

Описание: (18 Jun 2020) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus138396

Atlanta police officers called out sick or refused to answer calls Thursday to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back.
But the interim chief said members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing.
Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told The Associated Press in an interview that the sick calls began Wednesday night and continued Thursday, but said the department has sufficient staff to protect the city.
It's not clear how many officers have called out.
"Some are angry. Some are fearful. Some are confused on what we do in this space. Some may feel abandoned," Bryant said of the officers. "But we are there to assure them that we will continue to move forward and get through this."
Prosecutors brought felony murder and other charges against Garrett Rolfe, a white officer who shot Rayshard Brooks, saying that Brooks was not a deadly threat and that the officer kicked the wounded black man and offered no medical treatment for over two minutes as he lay dying.
Another officer, Devin Brosnan, who the district attorney said stood on Brooks' shoulder as he struggled for his life, was charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath.
Rolfe and Brosnan turned themselves in Thursday. The prosecutor said he would request $50,000 bond for Brosnan and no bail for Rolfe.
Less than 24 hours after Friday's shooting, police chief Erika Shields resigned, and Bryant took over on an interim basis.
In the roughly three weeks since protests first broke out in Georgia's capital, officers have worked shifts of 12 or more hours and have been yelled at, spit on and had things thrown at them, Bryant said.
"At some point, people get tired, I recognize that, and physically exhausted," he said. "But we'll get beyond that. We will definitely get beyond it and I'm certain that we will see our sick-outs drop back to normal, average."

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