Four of six Warner Robins narcotics officers reinstated amid misconduct investigation

The Warner Robins Police Department reinstated four of its six narcotics unit officers Tuesday amid a misconduct investigation, officials said.

The department put all six members of the Narcotics Investigation Unit on paid administrative leave Monday after Houston County District Attorney William Kendall began an investigation into allegations of misconduct by the unit, according to a press release from the city of Warner Robins.

Kendall said he and his investigators conducted interviews with those involved with the case and, after assessing evidence Monday night, determined that four officers with the NIU were not involved with alleged misconduct. He recommended that the police department reinstate the four officers.

“I know, based on the evidence and interviews we collected, that those four people are not involved in any way with the allegations. They shouldn’t be punished for something somebody else may or may not have done,” Kendall said. “That’s the intent of providing the chief with that information.”

The department followed the recommendation Tuesday afternoon. Kendall said they will continue the investigation with the remaining officers.

“That doesn’t mean that those two people are going to be indicted, it just means that we’ve narrowed the scope of the investigation based on the evidence we have so far,” Kendall said. “The only thing I can say definitively is that the four people I provided the police chief with information on are not involved with the investigation.”

There were no details available about the nature of the misconduct since the case is still underway.

Kendall said the investigation should make significant progress in the next two weeks and that he and his investigators are set to conduct more interviews.

“I’m determined to do a good job and be thorough but also be efficient, because I understand there’s people on administrative leave,” Kendall said. “I also understand that the public wants to know what’s going on, and I appreciate that, I would want to know too. So moving this quickly without skipping steps is important.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2023 at 12:56 PM.