justken2u
01-06-2007, 01:28 PM
Cobb settles with recruit's parents
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/22/06
Nothing can fix the pain of losing their daughter, but the family of a police recruit killed while training hope the settlement approved Thursday with Cobb County helps fix the training system.
Brian Drummond, the stepfather who had raised recruit Tara Drummond since she was 3, said the $1 million in the settlement isn't what's important.
"Our objective from day one was that any deficiencies in the training system ... are appropriately evaluated and corrected," he said.
Consequently, he and his wife, Tina Drummond, pressed for an independent review of firearms training safety at the North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy in Austell.
The Cobb County Commission unanimously approved the settlement, including the independent review, Thursday night. The $1 million will go to the Drummonds as well as to the recruit's biological father, Frank Spagnuolo.
Police recruit Tara Drummond, 23, was accidentally shot and killed by a training instructor during an exercise Sept. 13, 2005. Cobb County Sgt. Al Jackson did not realize that a real bullet was in a container of dummy bullets. Then he made the mistake of pointing the weapon at Drummond and pulling the trigger, Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren said.
Jackson was demoted to deputy, removed as an instructor and no longer serves in a law-enforcement capacity. His status as a sheriff's deputy is contingent upon his appeal of the revocation of his state peace officer certification by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.
The Drummonds and Spagnuolo had each sent the county notices to sue for
$5 million, but the lawsuits were never filed. Although the academy is a state facility, the Cobb Sheriff's Office oversees it. The state holds Cobb responsible for any liability there, Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens said.
Brian Drummond said Tara wanted to become a police officer after attending a high school job fair. She was living with them while she attended the academy.
Brian Drummond said he read thousands of pages of firearms safety manuals and policies to study the flaws in the academy firearms training, then presented the county with a 15-page summary of concerns.
The independent expert, agreed upon by the county and the parents, will study the academy's firearms training program, prepare a report and present findings during a public meeting. The county is not required to implement the recommendations.
"We're moving forward to improve the academy," Olens said.
A year after the report is issued, the expert will return to the academy and review the implementation of any recommendation. In addition, an existing safety review committee will submit in three months its own final report on firearms safety at the academy.
Warren said safety changes have already occurred at the academy, including the writing of a policy regarding the pointing of weapons.
"You don't point a functional weapon at anyone," Warren said.
He hoped the settlement brings "a measure of closure" to the family.
Brian Drummond said it only closes this chapter.
"I don't know that closure is possible," he said. "We've never gone through something like this. We don't know where it goes."
By CRAIG SCHNEIDER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/22/06
Nothing can fix the pain of losing their daughter, but the family of a police recruit killed while training hope the settlement approved Thursday with Cobb County helps fix the training system.
Brian Drummond, the stepfather who had raised recruit Tara Drummond since she was 3, said the $1 million in the settlement isn't what's important.
"Our objective from day one was that any deficiencies in the training system ... are appropriately evaluated and corrected," he said.
Consequently, he and his wife, Tina Drummond, pressed for an independent review of firearms training safety at the North Central Georgia Law Enforcement Academy in Austell.
The Cobb County Commission unanimously approved the settlement, including the independent review, Thursday night. The $1 million will go to the Drummonds as well as to the recruit's biological father, Frank Spagnuolo.
Police recruit Tara Drummond, 23, was accidentally shot and killed by a training instructor during an exercise Sept. 13, 2005. Cobb County Sgt. Al Jackson did not realize that a real bullet was in a container of dummy bullets. Then he made the mistake of pointing the weapon at Drummond and pulling the trigger, Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren said.
Jackson was demoted to deputy, removed as an instructor and no longer serves in a law-enforcement capacity. His status as a sheriff's deputy is contingent upon his appeal of the revocation of his state peace officer certification by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.
The Drummonds and Spagnuolo had each sent the county notices to sue for
$5 million, but the lawsuits were never filed. Although the academy is a state facility, the Cobb Sheriff's Office oversees it. The state holds Cobb responsible for any liability there, Cobb Commission Chairman Sam Olens said.
Brian Drummond said Tara wanted to become a police officer after attending a high school job fair. She was living with them while she attended the academy.
Brian Drummond said he read thousands of pages of firearms safety manuals and policies to study the flaws in the academy firearms training, then presented the county with a 15-page summary of concerns.
The independent expert, agreed upon by the county and the parents, will study the academy's firearms training program, prepare a report and present findings during a public meeting. The county is not required to implement the recommendations.
"We're moving forward to improve the academy," Olens said.
A year after the report is issued, the expert will return to the academy and review the implementation of any recommendation. In addition, an existing safety review committee will submit in three months its own final report on firearms safety at the academy.
Warren said safety changes have already occurred at the academy, including the writing of a policy regarding the pointing of weapons.
"You don't point a functional weapon at anyone," Warren said.
He hoped the settlement brings "a measure of closure" to the family.
Brian Drummond said it only closes this chapter.
"I don't know that closure is possible," he said. "We've never gone through something like this. We don't know where it goes."