AJC Sept. 24, 1969 pg. 1A
Candidates Lock in Sharp Debate Over Status of
Police Inquiry
By RALEIGH BRYANS
Mayoral candidates Rodney Cook has
contended all of the facts aren't in yet in the flap over police brutality.
Opponent Horace Tate retorted that they are.
Cook drew Tate's disagreement Tuesday night with a
brief conference at a West End rally to what he called charges and
countercharges in reference
to police brutality.
Cook said that the charges pose a "volatile situation"
that could "tear Atlanta apart'' and they shouldn't be used by any of the
candidates for mayor for cheap personal gain."
Whether Tate took that as a reference to himself
or not, he came back immediately with a contention that certain charges of
brutality aren't subject to dispute.
"He ought to understand that it is not a
charge or countercharge situation when a pregnant lady is beaten by a
policeman," Tate said. "This is just a fact.
"It is not a charge or countercharge when
three men who have been arrested are beaten by policemen in the city
jailÉ.These things are statements of fact.Ó
Cook took Tate to task on that.
ÒThere very definitely are brutally beaten people,
but there also are brutally beaten policemen,Ó he said. ÒThere are totally conflicting charges
on both sidesÉ
ÒInvestigations are being made by the district attorney and
investigations are being made by the FBI. I think we need to get all the
facts.Ó
If the charges against police are proved true, ÒWe
ought to throw the book at them," Cook said. But he said the same is true if events prove the
"accusers started things."
The two referred both to charges growing out of a
clash of policemen and hippies Sunday in Piedmont Park and to earlier
accusations of police
brutality against Negro citizens.
Police Chief Herbert Jenkins earlier Tuesday asked District Of Attorney Lewis Slaton and
the Fulton County Grand Jury to
investigate the charges growing out of the Piedmont Park clash.
The chief already had taken similar action in the
allegations Tate referred to in his remarks Tuesday night.
THE RALLY Tuesday night at Park Street Methodist
Church attracted all of the mayoral candidates except Sam Massell and Earl
Mann.
The discussion of police brutality cropped up when
Cook was asked if he'd replace Chief Jenkins. The other candidates present also
answered the question.
Cook's answer was in a light vein: Yes, he said, he would replace Jenkins because
Jenkins must retire in 1972 and his
successor will be named by the mayor.
Tate said heÕd have to find out, after becoming
mayor, whether he felt Jenkins Òought to have early retirement.Ó
He said he would want to know what JenkinsÕ true
philosophy is and whether he is adequately communicating that philosophy to the men under him.
He added that heÕd even Ògive him a chance to straighten out his philosophy.Ó
Everett Millican said flatly that he wouldn't
replace Jenkins. Besides, he said to remove the Atlanta chief you have to bring
charges against him and then find him guilty.
HOWELL SMITH said heÕd take Jenkins on a hunting
trip "make up my mind what to do with him after that." He added a
kind of defense of Jenkins and Mayor Ivan Allen.
"I
certainly don't think everything can be blamed on Chief Jenkins in the
present hour and by the same token, everything canÕt be blamed on Ivan Allen,Ó
he said.
Smith already, in another context had charged that
hippies are "going unbridled
and undisciplinedÓ and said, "We've got to back up law and order, whatever
if takes."
Ander McBerry a former sheriff in Mississippi,
told the audience that as a former law enforcement official "I know how to
cope with these problems." ''
At the same rally, the candidates were asked to
identify the No. 1 problem facing Atlanta.
Smith said it is annexation-consolidation. Tate
said racial relations and an interrelated problem, quality education. McBerry
said "crime, but the main thing is, we're being taxed to death."
Millican said law and order, with race relations
No. 2. Cook said "harmonious race relations" and then rated traffic
and transportation and crime as No. 2 and No. 3.