# Entire Georgia recruit class fired for cheating



## csauce777 (Jan 10, 2005)

*JENNIFER BRETT*
_The Atlanta Journal-Constitution_

An entire class of Cobb County police recruits was fired Monday after they cheated on a test, authorities said.
"Not much shocks me after 35 years in this business, but I was shocked," said Mickey Lloyd, Cobb's public safety director.
A police academy instructor caught two recruits comparing answers during a written exam last week, Lloyd said. After the academy alerted Lloyd on Friday, he ordered an inquiry and soon learned that all 20 recruits had cheated, he said.
Most of the recruits admitted to cheating when asked about it, Lloyd said.
"They'd gotten together and decided none of them was going to fail," said Lloyd.
It's not clear how the recruits cheated, though Lloyd said they did not steal the test.
The news "dismayed" Cobb County Commissioner Helen Goreham, but she praised the swift response in drumming out the recruits suspected of cheating.
"Integrity with our police officers is something we do not skimp on," said Goreham, the commissioners' public safety liaison. "The level of service our officers provide the citizenry is top-notch. We will not tolerate an incident of this type."
Investigators do not plan to file criminal charges against any class members --- a mix of men and women of various backgrounds --- but they might not ever wear a law enforcement badge in Georgia, Lloyd said.
Authorities did not release the recruits' names.
Cobb officials plan to report the dismissals to the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, which oversees the training and certification of law enforcement officers.
To get into the class, recruits had to have at least a high school diploma and pass a background check as well as psychiatric and polygraph tests --- measures intended to weed out certain would-be cops.
"You'd think you'd have the cream of the crop," Lloyd said.
The recruits were county employees training to become sworn police officers. They were in the fifth week of a 22-week training period required to join about 600 officers on Cobb's police force, where salaries start around $34,600.
Instructors stress the importance of honesty with recruits. Police officers are often key witnesses in criminal trials.
"If you cheat, steal or lie, you lose your credibility in court," Lloyd said.
Commission Chairman Sam Olens said, "Our police officers need to be beyond reproach."
Lloyd sounded weary and disappointed Monday but stressed his confidence in Cobb County's thin blue line.
"The Cobb County Police Department is among the best in the state," he said. "There are a lot of fine officers out there. They work hard and they're honest. This had to be done in order to maintain this reputation."
News of the incident was rippling through the police department and county administration Monday.
"Everybody's very disturbed about it," said police spokesman Dana Pierce. "It's a disappointment to all of us."

*Woops....dummies  *


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## tazoez (Dec 9, 2005)

I know this area of the board deals with police news but I think that this should be moved to the IDIOT NEWS part. How stupid can people get. As an Officer/Trooper (or trainee in an academy) honesty and integrity are the core principles that describe the job. If you don't have those, then how are you supposed to testify in court. "Take my word over his because I am in Law Enforcement, but don't look at the fact that I cheated"????


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Fired Georgia Recruits Say They Were Instructed to Cheat

*Story by wsbtv.com*

Some of the Cobb County police recruits fired in a cheating scandal are speaking out today. The recruits tell Channel 2 they were just following orders when an academy instructor allegedly caught them cheating on an exam. 
Channel 2 talked with about a half dozen members of that former recruit class who were down at police headquarters Wednesday turning in the last of their gear. They didnt want to show their faces because they still hope to salvage their careers in law enforcement. But they bristle at the perception that they conspired to cheat their way to becoming cops. 
I dont think its the intention of any one of us to absolve ourselves of any responsibility, says one recruit. 
County officials say they fired the 20 recruits for cheating on a state-mandated test. But some of the recruits told Channel 2, they were just doing what they had been told. 
There was one occasion where the officer came in and told us we had a certain amount of time to complete an exam, uh, hes going to leave the room, were going to converse amongst ourselves and collectively come up with the answers to the test, explains one former recruit. 
The former recruits say this had all started early in their time at the academy. The entire class had failed one of the first state-mandated tests. Their instructor was furious, yelling at them saying how could all 20 fail this test?. He said they were all to work together in the future to pass the remainder of the tests. 
There was an instance where we took a state mandated test, where we were told that one half of the class did questions 1 through 25 and the other half of the class did questions 26 through 50, and we cross filled in our answer sheets accordingly, said another former police recruit. 
It was only when an academy sergeant came into the room during a test, and saw two of the recruits talking, that all 20 were questioned then terminated. 
And that was the first time that we were told by someone in a position of authority that we were doing something wrong, explains a recruit. 
The half dozen recruits told Channel 2 Wednesday that they still hoped to pursue a law enforcement career  in a place other than Cobb County  and they hope telling their story at least helps others understand. 
The recruits want to tell their story to POST  a state agency that certifies law enforcers in the state. There may be an investigation done by POST after Cobb County forwards the agency their files  the recruits they plan to make sure their word is included in any such investigation.

Copyright 2006 by . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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## PBiddy35 (Aug 27, 2004)

kwflatbed said:


> Fired Georgia Recruits Say They Were Instructed to Cheat
> 
> "And that was the first time that we were told by someone in a position of authority that we were doing something wrong," explains a recruit.


They couldve just asked first graders if cheating was wrong or not. Give me a break :baby21:


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## no$.10 (Oct 18, 2005)

The immaturity in me still thinks it was kinda of cool that they all stuck together, anyhow. Who would have thought they'd fire the whole class? Maybe it was some "group logic" that if we all say we did it...mebee? 

I am just glad I never got caught.


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## KozmoKramer (Apr 25, 2004)

kwflatbed said:


> ...They didn't want to show their faces because they still hope to salvage their careers in law enforcement....


That will be a good trick.
If they omit it from the applicant questionnaire; the BI will eventually find out, and they'll be eliminated for not being honest.
If they tell about it during the oral board or to the BI, I wonder if they would be asked to continue in the selection process..


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## csauce777 (Jan 10, 2005)

> "There was an instance where we took a state mandated test, where we were told that one half of the class did questions 1 through 25 and the other half of the class did questions 26 through 50, and we cross filled in our answer sheets accordingly," said another former police recruit.


The sad part is that they were probably telling the truth, at least a version of it.


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## BlackOps (Dec 29, 2004)

Hummm, I'd feel real safe living in Georgia right now. Wonder how the last hundred or so academies were run down there?!?


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*More Details Emerge on Georgia Recruits Fired for Cheating*

*YOLANDA RODRIGUEZ and CRAIG SCHNEIDER*
_The Atlanta Journal-Constitution_









In their first public comments since being fired from the Cobb County Police Academy, two ex-recruits dispute allegations that they were guilty of cheating.
The two are among a group of 20 --- known as Recruit Class 17 --- who were dismissed Monday in a highly publicized cheating scandal. 
The recruiting class members were accused of helping each other on exams.
One fired recruit, Louis Barney, 42 --- a veteran of New York's Department of Corrections --- said instructors at the academy, directly and indirectly, created the atmosphere that allowed them to discuss questions during tests.
Another ex-recruit, Denis Graham Waldron, 23, said he was not even in the classroom when two recruits were allegedly caught cheating.
"I did not cheat and I did not help anybody to cheat," said Waldron, of Atlanta. "I have been wronged."
Waldron said he delivered a letter Tuesday protesting his firing to Cobb County Public Safety Director Mickey Lloyd and to County Commissioner Helen Goreham.
"More than anything I want to clear my name of any cheating on my record," he said.
Barney said that the fired recruits plan to ask the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, or POST, to investigate how Cobb runs its academy.
But Cobb police officials said the line of what is right and what is wrong is easily drawn.
"You have to have enough trust in them," said Lloyd. "We trust them to go onto the streets and carry a weapon, to testify in court to the absolute truth all the time, to go into somebody's house and leave things as they are."
Waldron said he didn't see anyone cheat. But he added that classmates clarified answers for each other during exams.
Barney said the class was tested regularly --- quizzes, open-book exams and POST certified tests --- but there were never any proctors during the examinations.
An exam on hazardous materials was an open-book test. On quizzes, the class was allowed to use notes. 
"There were mixed signals," Barney said.
"Where were we supposed to draw the line? Nothing was made known to us that this type of behavior was unacceptable," Barney said. "It was only after a supervisor came into the room and saw them asking questions. He questioned them and from there it snowballed."
Barney said he shared answers --- and so did everyone else. But he does not believe it was cheating.
"No one was bringing in cheat sheets," he said. "No one was writing on their arms. If someone had a question, it was posed to the class for clarification."
The cheating allegations in Recruit Class 17 surfaced a week ago, when an instructor entered a classroom during a written test on driving procedures.
Investigators said two recruits were cheating and that when they questioned them, most admitted to cheating on several tests.
Cobb fired all 20, after the county had spent roughly $112,000 on their training. They were in their fifth week of a 22-week course.
Investigators said the 20 had agreed that they would all get through the training course together and become full-fledged police officers.
Lloyd said if he had allowed the officers to continue their training "it would not be fair ... to the officers on the street and those that follow them. The entire Cobb County Police Department would be suspect. We cannot allow that to happen to our people on the street."
Maj. Barry Banks, the training director at the academy, said the recruits used work books to study for their hazardous materials exams. But that POST exams were monitored by proctors --- although sometimes the proctors would leave the room.
"They were instructed to study in the library and study together, not to take the test together," Banks said.
Waldron said there was never any agreement made among the recruits to cheat, as has been asserted by Lloyd.
"There was never a cheating pact," he said.
He said that comments made by an instructor during one early test may have led some recruits to believe they were permitted to work together during tests.
"He said, 'I don't care how you get this done. You can work together,' " Waldron said.
Waldron also said some questions on tests pertained to material that was never covered during classes. He said that frustrated some recruits.
After the incident last week, Waldron said the entire class was called in Monday and had to sit around doing nothing until about 3:30 p.m. Then they were called in one by one, in alphabetical order, and told the entire class was being dismissed.
Waldron was second to last to be called in.
"What makes me most mad it will be on my record, being a cheater, when I didn't cheat," he said.
He said he has spoken to a few recruits since the firing.
"They were shocked. We think they should have done a better job of determining who was cheating and who didn't."
Waldron says he still wants to be a police officer, and, if possible, a Cobb police officer.
In a letter to Sam Olens, the chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, Waldron sought to clear his name.
Olens, reached by phone Thursday evening, said he still believes the recruits should have been fired.
"If a recruit feels wronged, they should file a request for the hearing," he said.
In a letter sent to each fired recruit, Lloyd said he will give them the opportunity of a "name-clearing hearing" where they can refute the allegation against them.The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, which certifies police officers, will investigate the incident.
It will decide what sanctions --- if any --- to mete out. The council will decide whether the fired recruits can enroll in another law-enforcement training academy.

Staff writers David A. Markiewicz and Bob Giles contributed to this article.

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