Dennis Bell had been with the Arcade Police Department for 10 years. He submitted a letter of resignation this week citing the death of his grandmother, with whom his 11-year-old son had been living in Toccoa.
Arcade Mayor Pro-Tem Ron Smith says Bell had been on personal leave for about three weeks.
Shortly after Bell took leave to be with his son, the Arcade City Council received an anonymous letter from a former police department employee accusing the police chief of fixing traffic tickets and falsifying his time cards.
The council conducted an internal investigation and turned the results over to the Jackson County District Attorney's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Smith says the accusation of falsifying time cards was unfounded because Bell was a salaried employee and was known to work late and extra hours.
The City Council has agreed to pay Bell his biweekly salary of about $2,340 through the end of March and to reimburse him $2,300 he had spend installing extra equipment in the city's patrol cars in April.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/11/204040