APD Officer Still on Duty after Numerous Shocking Offenses, Records Show
Research by Meghan Simons, Special to The Atlanta Progressive News
(APN) ATLANTA — Officer Edward Rabb is still on duty with the Atlanta Police Department (APD), despite a disciplinary file of at least 735 pages, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. APN obtained the full record through an open records request.
“He is still employed and works in our Property Unit… I have been informed by our Office of Professional Standards that he is on full duty,” Sgt. Gregory Lyons of the APD Public Affairs Unit, told APN.
The APD sees fit for him to work in the Property Unit, despite the fact that he lost a gun in 2009 and received a written reprimand for it in 2010.
Over the last nine years, Rabb has been disciplined by the APD several times, receiving oral admonishments, written admonishments, suspensions with pay, suspensions without pay, foot patrol, and driver retraining.
APN has published a full timeline of Rabb’s record under separate cover: http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2014/05/19/full-timeline-apd-officer-rabb%E2%80%99s-disciplinary-history.html
In November 2013, APN published an article about certain incidents involving Rabb–including a DUI charge and separate rape allegations–that had already been made public.
The article also included some additional information regarding Rabb that APN later retracted for privacy reasons, at the request of a medical provider.
Some highlights from the Timeline include:
January 16, 2005: According to victim and witness accounts, Rabb broke into a woman’s home and physically assaulted her, pushing her twice into a wall in front of witnesses. Rabb was suspended for five days in connection with this incident.
February 15, 2005: Officer Rabb hit the rear of another vehicle on I-75 in stop and go traffic, causing over 900 dollars worth of damage to the patrol car. APD determined the accident was avoidable. Rabb received an oral admonishment, a five day foot patrol assignment, and a driver retraining course.
May 05, 2006: Rabb failed to appear in court to testify regarding criminal charges against a suspect. Rabb received an oral admonishment for his failure to appear in court.
July 19, 2006: Rabb struck another patrol vehicle when backing out to respond to a call. The cost to repair his vehicle was $890.26 and the second vehicle was $2,250.53. Rabb received an oral admonishment, five days foot patrol, and driver training for this second accident.
August 13, 2007: Rabb failed to respond to a call regarding a domestic dispute, showing up but engaging in a conversation with a neighbor and saying, “Whatever,” to the victim, before pulling off. He later went back to the scene in his own truck and provided the victim with a fake case number. For this, Rabb received a written reprimand.
August 25, 2007: Rabb failed to place a gun properly in the Atlanta property unit. Rabb received a written reprimand.
April 23, 2008: Rabb allegedly raped a woman in Clayton County, in a highly publicized case. The woman later refused to testify and the charges were dropped.
March 8, 2009: Rabb was arrested for Driving Under the Influence of alcohol, after being stopped for an improper lane change. During the stop, he told Officer Gilbert of the Cobb County Police Department that he had consumed five to six drinks. Rabb failed field sobriety tests and blew a .169, more than twice the legal limit. The officer also found Rabb had urinated on himself to the point that he had soaked the seat of his pants. He was unable to recite the alphabet, proceeding immediately to the letter “Z” after being given several chances to complete it. He was placed under arrest. He was immediately relieved of duty. Rabb blamed the contemporaneous sexual assault investigation for his arrest.
By the court, Rabb was placed on probation for twelve months, ordered to complete forty hours of community service, and attend either one Mothers Against Drunk Driving impact panel or one Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous meeting, plus pay a fine of 501 dollars.
By APD, Rabb was suspended for 21 days.
February 07, 2012: Officer Rabb failed to sign for a subpoena or appear in court in the case of Benjamin Allen, resulting in theft cases being dismissed. Rabb received a written reprimand.
In addition to the numerous sustained complaints listed above, there are also numerous unsustained complaints in Rabb’s OPS file. Just because complaints are not sustained does not mean the facts alleged are untrue, simply that they could not be proven to the appropriate standard of evidence.
The unsustained complaints include four citizen-initiated complaints and four internally-initiated complaints.
As of the time Atlanta Progressive News made the open records request, in November 2013, there was also a pending investigation of a citizens complaint.
(END/2014)