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Gregory McMichael, the retired white police officer who helped hunt down and kill Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old unarmed African-American man, was unable to complete enough basic law enforcement training for years, a deficiency that led to him losing his power to arrest.
McMichael, who worked as an investigator in the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office from 1995 to 2019, He lost his power of arrest in January 2006 for failing to complete the 20 hours of training required the previous year, according to personnel records obtained by The Guardian.
He continued to be deficient in his training for the following years and did not obtain the exemption required to reestablish his authority of arrest power. Some of the trainings that McMichael lacked included mandatory courses on the use of force and firearms.
The personnel records, which have been reported by local media, come to light when McMichael faces murder charges for chasing Arbery, who was running through a residential neighborhood. McMichael and his son Travis said they believed Arbery looked like a suspect in a series of robberies in the neighborhood.
The records also shed light on McMichael’s close relationship with Jackie Johnson, the district attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, who withdrew from the case and is now subject to a federal investigation into how the case was handled.
The couple was eventually indicted after state investigators were brought into the case following the appearance of a video showing Arbery’s death.
Johnson’s office declined to comment.
“We are confident that any investigation will ultimately demonstrate that our office acted appropriately under the circumstances,” his office said in a statement. “There is a public misconception about this case due to false accusations against our office by those with an agenda.”
In Georgia, law enforcement officers must complete 20 hours of training each year, including certain mandatory courses, to maintain their power of arrest, a critical authorization that gives officers the legal authority to perform essential law enforcement functions.
“Without those powers of arrest, you have no more or no additional power than any other citizen,” said Mike Ayers, executive director of the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council (Post), which oversees the certification.
But McMichael did not alert his supervisors to the deficiency until 2014, according to records. The problem was so serious that Post considered suspending it indefinitely. He was stripped of his weapon and departmental vehicle while requesting an exemption from the state.
In an April 2014 memo to Johnson, Mark Melton, another investigator in his office, warned that because McMichael lost his power of arrest “any wrongdoing by Greg would go to Greg, the district attorney’s office, and you personally” .
McMichael finally regained his certification. But Johnson, the district attorney, wrote to the agency responsible for overseeing the certification process that the episode was “a great shame to me and investigator McMichael.”
“It has negatively impacted my office and I have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen,” added Johnson, saying she was grateful that the standards and training of the state’s law enforcement agencies. [Post] The director had reinstated the license after she met him in person to press on behalf of McMichael.
In February 2019, months before retiring, McMichael again lost his Post certification for failing to complete the required training in 2018. Weeks later, his supervisors reassigned him to work as a staff liaison at the Camden County District Attorney’s Office. and they noted that he “would not engage in any activity that is construed as law enforcement by nature.” His supervisors noted that he would not carry a badge or firearm in his new position.
The records highlight the multiple medical and personal problems McMichael cited for missing multiple training programs. In a letter written by McMichael to explain his absences between 2005 and 2010 and request a training exemption, he states that in 2006, after a heart attack, he experienced clinical depression.
“The depression made me sometimes unable to focus on important tasks … I immediately sought treatment, which continues to this day,” he writes.
He writes that in 2009 he and his wife filed for bankruptcy, and later that year he experienced a second heart attack: “I think this heart attack was caused in large part by the stress he was experiencing both at home and at work. “
Dating back to the year he was employed by the Brunswick District Attorney’s Office, McMichael’s personnel file also provides information on his overall performance as an employee and other training he received on the job.
For example, records indicate that McMichael completed only one training course on the use of de-escalation tactics, but completed four courses devoted to “understanding Islamist terrorism” and another on “introduction to terrorism.”
His annual reviews of superiors have a mixed record and his overall performance is never rated above “good”. A November 2000 review states, “You need to improve your organization and prioritize your workload.” Multiple reports describe the lack of organizational skills.
