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Two DeKalb Firefighters Disciplined Over False Allegations Against A Police Officer

Two DeKalb County firefighters are out of a job following a determination that they had made false accusations against a Stone Mountain police officer during a traffic stop.

Captain Terrell Davis and Krystal Cathcart, falsely accused a Stone Mountain police officer of unprofessional conduct. The officer’s body cam proved otherwise.

Davis was fired and Cathcart resigned in lieu of termination. Dave Statter has been following this case from the beginning.

Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 50 years of fire service experience and 40 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. Besides his law degree, he has a MS in Forensic Psychology. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.

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3 Comments

  1. I believe what they did:

    “Lying”

    comes within the definition of “Moral Turpitude”.

    Grounds for termination.

    But, what a waste of a career fire officer and line firefighter,

    “What were they thinking”, when they made their (knowingly) false claims.????

  2. They may have thought that with all the violent, racist cops out there, and the subsequent bad press for ALL cops, that they’d be able to cash in on a pre-trial settlement. Unfortunately for them, the cop’s body- and dash-cams and the audio recording provided conclusive evidence that the two firefighters were, shall we say, not 100% accurate in their statements.

    BTW, this case should leave the good cops (the vast majority of all cops) clamoring for body-cams. All too often these days, a “he said, she said” between a cop and a civilian goes the civilian’s way, because the corrupt cops have poisoned the public’s view of law enforcement. As long as a cop plays by the rules, a body-cam is much more likely to exonerate him than convict him wrongly. (And as a different cop found out, after ramming a motorcycle with his cruiser then kicking the biker in the chest, a body-cam or dash-cam can help nail a bad cop).

    Go to YouTube and search for “Taser_Video1” for some prime examples.

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