Law enforcement officials,

teachers and criminal prosecutors went to bat for the Fayetteville Police

Department Monday night during a public hearing on whether the department

meets the standards for national accreditation.

But one dissenting voice took

to the podium at Fayetteville City Hall to speak out against the department's

management, singling out Chief Johnny Roberts for criticism.

Teachers raved about the department's

efforts to educate children about topics such as child abuse and helping

counsel troubled students. Prosecutors said members of the department

cooperate with authorities to seek justice against criminals.

One citizen lauded the department's

efforts to clean up heavy drug activity in the Church Street area that

involved drug sales taking place in a nearby city park.

Even Peachtree City Police

Chief James Murray, whose agency has been accredited since 1992, argued

that Fayetteville deserved accreditation, because the department is seeking

accreditation for the right reasons, "because it is the right thing

to do for the community."

But Rebecca Raymer, a Fayette

County citizen, voiced several claims, including:

That the department's K-9

program was suspended as retribution against the actions of one of the

city's former K-9 officers, who had attempted to file a grievance against

the department. That officer has since resigned from the department, she

said;

That several officers had

holiday and year-end bonus checks withheld from them for several days

as retribution for not attending a city holiday party;

That over half of the city's

patrol officers are actively seeking other employment because of their

dissatisfaction with the department's management;

That the city's procedures

for handling employee grievances are flawed, largely because Roberts also

serves as the assistant city manager;

That officers did not receive

required salary increases for cost of living;

That vacation time earned

Raymer urged the accreditation

assessment team to investigate her claims before making a decision on

whether the department is worthy of accreditation. She also made it clear

that she has no grievance with any of the department's officers.

"For the officers with

families to support, the actions of the chief are devastating," Raymer

said. She also noted that one city councilman and the mayor have been

made aware of her claims that Roberts abused his power.

A member of the accreditation

evaluation team asked Raymer for a copy of her comments.

After the meeting, Roberts

declined to comment on Raymer's allegations, except to note that "In

our business, we don't make everybody happy," although all but one

of those who spoke at the meeting appeared to be happy with the department's

service.

In an interview with The Citizen

about the suspension of the K-9 program, Roberts said it was done so the

department could reevaluate the effectiveness of its program and its cost

to the department. The suspension of the program only meant the dogs would

not report to work with the officers each day, but the dogs were available

if the department needs them, he added.

The city owns one K-9 dog and

also used K-9 dogs which were personally owned by two officers. One of

those officers has since left employment with the city.

At the time of the interview,

Roberts said the department needs to evaluate what it needs out of its

K-9 program, including the possibility of acquiring a bomb-sniffing dog.

Earl Shirley, a member of the

accreditation team evaluating whether the department complies with accreditation

standards, said the team would look into any possible violation of the

accreditation standards.

"We will look at everything

that pertains to the standards," Shirley said, noting that the Commission

on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies also will consider public

comments that were voiced during a phone session and those that were sent

to CALEA in writing.

Shirley noted that the evaluation

team has a large amount of leeway to determine whether any accreditation

standards have been violated.

"We do what we need to

to see if the agency is in compliance," Shirley said.

If the department is found

to have violated one or more of the national accreditation standards,

it could face rejection of its application for accreditation.

The evaluation team is responsible

for making a report