Cobb Police Advised Officer to Use 'Better Judgment'

The Cobb County police officer who shot and killed a man in Mableton last month has been on administrative leave three times in the past five years. He also has been counseled by the department to use "better judgement" in high stress incidents with the public, according to records obtained by South Cobb Patch.

Henry was put on administrative leave following Murdock's death, making it his third paid administrative leave during his last five years with the department as the result of internal affairs investigations.

Officer Mike Bowman, spokesman for Cobb Police, said the Board of Commissioners' "progressive discipline" policy states that individuals can be placed on as many as 10 days of administrative leave during internal affairs investigations to determine whether disciplinary action is appropriate.

Henry was placed on administrative leave as the Cobb County Public Safety Department's internal affairs investigated an April 2006 incident of which he, along with a Cobb County Police corporal and two other officers, was later exonerated.

According to the incident report, officers arrived to a Marietta home after being informed that a man, Alfred Fleming, was assaulting a woman.  According to the officers’ and witnesses’ statements, Fleming ignored the officers’ commands, so he was sprayed at least 10 times with pepper spray and hit 39 times in the thigh with a baton.

Timothy Weaver, an investigator for the Cobb County Medical Examiner's Office, determined that Fleming’s death was an accident caused by irregular heartbeat as a result of cocaine use.

Henry was also put on administrative leave from Feb. 26, 2009 to March 10, 2009 during a second internal affairs investigation. The investigation is still open and pending, police said. They said that they cannot release any details, including the reason for the investigation.

Henry’s most recent paid administrative leave ended on May 29, 10 days after he shot Murdock, according to information in his personnel record, which South Cobb Patch obtained through an open records request. Henry is currently on administrative duty, but is not on patrol.

Henry also received a letter of reprimand dated Dec. 1, 2010 from Deputy Police Chief Ronald Storey after being involved in a county vehicle accident that was later deemed preventable.

In Henry’s latest annual performance appraisal, his strengths are listed as taking pride in his personal appearance, arriving 30 minutes prior to his shift and giving back to the community when he is not working by coaching children at a local private school.

It is also stated in the appraisal that Henry “begins the day with a positive outlook and is very charismatic.”

However, in the same evaluation, it states, “Officer Henry agrees that he needs to improve his interpersonal skills when dealing with the confrontational citizens he interacts with during the performance of his daily activities.”

Henry’s annual appraisal forms rated his job performance as “good.” However, most of the annual evaluations indicated that Henry should make firearms score improvement a goal.

Another goal from an appraisal of Henry’s job performance from Oct. 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009 is that he “learn to relax during high stress incidents in order to view the larger picture of what is occurring” and to “be more cautious of his officer safety.”

During this same time period, Henry received two Critical Incident Reminders for injuring himself during a vehicle pursuit of a suspect and for calling a complainant “fat” while handling a domestic dispute.

Henry was also counseled after cutting off another officer during a pursuit.

In other previous appraisals, Henry has been advised to use “better judgment during critical incidents.”

According to one report, Henry is frequently injured on and off duty, which led to 38 days of light duty work from Oct. 1, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2006.

Cobb Police continue to investigate the shooting of Murdock, which occurred after he was stopped by a Cobb police officer as he left a business parking lot in Mableton. According to police, a Cobb Sheriff’s deputy, who stopped to assist, had a physcial confrontation with Murdock. Henry arrived, saw the struggle and fired shots, police said, after he saw Murdock reach for what he believed to be a weapon.

Police have not reported whether a weapon was found on Murdock.