Rincon City Council members voted to uphold the termination of a Rincon police detective and may add allegations to be investigated.

Officer Scott Collins, who was fired by council on Sept. 10, asked to be reinstated to the police department during a hearing Tuesday night, but council members voted 6-0 to uphold their decision.

“It’s unfortunate that the mayor and council didn’t appear to consider this with an open mind,” said Doug Andrews, Collins’ attorney.

At issue is who had the authority over the police department at the time and the cause behind the remark Collins made to another officer that eventually led to his dismissal.

“The council feels an officer of the law needs to be held to the highest standard of conduct,” Council member Ann Daniel said. “At a time when the police department was in turmoil, it was critical for the officers to work together and for the department to run seamlessly without a chief in place. We feel that rather than maintaining your composure, the escalation of your actions created animosity in the ranks and divided the force at a time when they needed to work together peaceably.”

What Collins said and why
Mayor Ken Lee and council members Levi Scott, Paul Wendelken and Scott Morgan met with the Rincon police officers on Sept. 9 to ask them to work together in the wake of then-Chief Michael Berry being placed on administrative leave.

Just after the meeting broke up, Collins was overheard calling another officer — Jose Ramirez — “a piece of (expletive).” Collins did not deny making the remark and explained why he said that to Ramirez.

Collins said he even went around to the front of the building to avoid Ramirez, with whom he was unhappy for an incident. But as the officers passed by each other, Ramirez “gave me a smug smile and winked,” Collins said.

“I found out he had sex with a female in my home without my wishes,” Collins said. “I just found that out and I was angry.”

Collins said his remark to Ramirez was in reference to that incident, and Ramirez “screamed out, ‘what does that mean? Maybe you need to quit and maybe you need to get out.’”

Lee and council members had advised the officers that if they believed they could not work together that they needed to resign immediately.

Morgan overheard the remark and Collins was reprimanded.

“It wasn’t just words,” Morgan said. “It was emotion, anger and feelings were involved.”

Acting chief Sgt. Bryan Boatright called the officers together again. Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie, whom city council had asked to help the department after Berry was placed on leave, told Collins that Councilman Scott was very upset about what Collins had done.

“They understood why,” Collins said. “I let my emotions get the best of me. I apologized to him and went back to work. He said he needed my help to run the department, and I said I could put my personal issues with Ramirez aside.”

Andrews said that because Collins had apologized, “I believe his record shows he is a good officer and is worthy of retention.”

Collins said he could work with Ramirez and had responded two days before to Ramirez’s request for help in an arrest.
City attorney Raymond Dickey asked Collins how he could expect the people of Rincon and the city council to trust him and if he thought his conduct, on duty, was acceptable.

“I’ve been a law enforcement officer for seven years,” Collins said. “I’ve been spit on, hit, shot at, and each time I put my emotions aside. During those seven years, I was never reprimanded. For seven years, I think I handled myself well. I encountered people who wanted me dead, and that includes drug dealers when I was working undercover.”

Collins added that if had had the opportunity, he would have removed his gun and badge and handled the matter elsewhere.

Collins also said Ramirez had confessed to council members about having sex on duty, but Morgan denied that Ramirez told that to council members.

Issues with hearing, investigation
Andrews raised concerns about Dickey’s role in the appeal hearing and in the council’s executive session. Council members met for 55 minutes behind closed doors before making their decision. Andrews said Dickey’s role in an ongoing investigation into problems in the police department and as a de facto prosecutor for Tuesday night’s appeal hearing “didn’t pass the smell test.”

“It’s nice when you have someone who can do everything,” Andrews said. “It calls into question the propriety when he serves three roles. He’s done all this investigation, and he is there as the city attorney, having a wealth of knowledge of matters we don’t know about and sharing that with city council, when it all should be done in the open.”

Lee said the investigation he and Dickey have been conducting since Collins and Berry were fired is close to being finished. Dickey also advised Collins that the city council intends to attach allegations in their notice of Collins’ dismissal to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and the allegations involve reports of sexual misconduct by Collins.

Dickey said if Collins and Andrews can provide information on their behalf to the mayor and to the city attorney, the attachment can be disposed.

Who could give an order?
Andrews also called into question who was in charge of the department and who could make personnel decisions in the absence of a chief. In a Sept. 9 letter to the mayor and council, City Manager Donald Toms requested to be removed from the chain of command. Without a police chief, Toms would have been responsible for oversight of the department.

“We honored his request,” Lee said, though no formal vote transferring that power from the city manager to the council was taken.

Andrews asked if McDuffie had ever been appointed as interim chief after Berry’s suspension and Dickey said the sheriff was asked to help out but not given the role of interim chief.

“Did the mayor and council issue a direct order,” Andrews asked during the hearing, “rather than an exhortation not to be hostile to one another? The contention would be, that by the city charter, the only person authorized to issue a direct order was the chief of police or the city manager.”

Collins declined to comment following the hearing. Andrews said they will gather the information and meet with Dickey to discuss the new allegations.

“We will be speaking with the city attorney, but we’re not sure if that’s as a witness or a city attorney or in what capacity, because it seems to be mixed. We’ll get some more information on what he’s referring to and look at our options.”

Former Rincon Police Chief Michael Berry, who is appealing his termination, will have his appeal heard Nov. 3 in council chambers.