ATLANTA — The criminal charges have been dropped and the suspension lifted on their police officer certifications. Officer Garrett Rolfe and Officer Devin Brosnan still have jobs with the Atlanta Police Department.
But more than two years after their involvement in the death of Rayshard Brooks, it’s not yet known if the two will return to patrol positions as they held in June 2020. Attorneys for Rolfe and Brosnan declined to discuss the officers’ career plans moving forward, after a specially appointed prosecutor announced this week all criminal charges would be dropped.
“He is currently employed by APD and he intends to remain employed by APD,” Noah Pines, the attorney for Rolfe, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
When asked about Brosnan’s future plans, Amanda Clark Palmer, a member of his defense team, declined comment.
If the officers intend to return to patrol duties rather than their current administrative roles, they will first need to complete the training they missed while their certification was suspended, according to Chris Harvey, deputy executive director for the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, known as POST.
Georgia officers are required to complete 20 hours of training a year, including courses in the use of force, de-escalation and community policing, Harvey said.
“If an officer is not able to do that, they can apply for a waiver and can make up the training,” Harvey said.
Rolfe and Brosnan would have to complete training hours from 2020 and 2021 and have until the end of the year to complete the hours for 2022, Harvey said. Atlanta interim police Chief Darin Schierbaum has already been in touch with POST regarding the officers returning to training.
Brooks, 27, was shot and killed June 12, 2020, after Rolfe and Brosnan tried to arrest him in the parking lot of a south Atlanta Wendy’s. The shooting set off protests at the restaurant, which was burned to the ground the following day.
The same day, police Chief Erika Shields announced she was stepping down and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Rolfe had been fired.
Former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced five days later that he had filed criminal charges against both officers. Rolfe was charged with 11 counts, including felony murder. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath of office. Both were arrested, and because of the felony charges, their officer certifications were suspended.
Howard later lost his seat to Fani Willis, who recused herself from the case. State Attorney General Chris Carr then requested Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, take over the case last year. Skandalakis enlisted the help of another former metro Atlanta district attorney, Danny Porter.
At a news conference Tuesday, both Skandalakis and Porter discussed the evidence in the case, including a frame-by-frame analysis of videos from the night of the shooting. Reaction to the decision was divided, with some adamant that Brooks’ actions did not warrant him being killed.
Attorneys for the Brooks family said earlier this week the case should have been presented to a grand jury. The family has filed a civil suit against the officers.
On Wednesday, Skandalakis filed an official notice of the dismissal of charges, according to Fulton County court records.
Meanwhile, both officers have filed federal civil suits against the city claiming their constitutional rights were violated.
———
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writer Bill Rankin contributed to this report.)
———
