Bolton's Back and Better Than Ever

By Robert Wilonsky Fri., Nov. 10 2006 at 8:05 AM

Categories: News

Well, lookie where Terrell Bolton has surfaced. Seems the former Dallas police chief's up for a gig in DeKalb County, Georgia; if nothing else, he's on the list of finalists for the top cop spot, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But this is probably not how you want to be described in the media whilst interviewing for a career in law enforcement:

Terrell Bolton became the first African-American police chief of Dallas in 1999. He quickly shook up the top level of the large Texas department, demoting several commanders. The city later paid $5.5 million to settle legal claims by demoted officers, according to reports in The Dallas Morning News.

Bolton was fired in 2003 after other controversies, including a scandal over officers making drug busts with fake evidence and an officer who was hired despite failing a polygraph test about an unsolved murder.

The AJC reporters working on the story asked DeKalb Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones if he knew about Bolton's checkered past here. Clearly, the answer was yes: "Do you think I'm stupid?" he shot back, before insisting that the controversies here were "politically motivated." Then, during a telephone interview with the reporters, Bolton "blamed the Police Department controversies on political conflicts."

I have $20 that says the job is his. Sounds like a love match. --Robert Wilonsky

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