Bodycams show Atlanta police doing bare minimum to find 3 kids in peril

ATLANTA - Under their policies, Atlanta police had a duty to take "immediate action" to find three children allegedly kidnapped by their father in 2023.

Instead, bodycam videos show, they took no extra steps to get beyond the father’s front door – in some cases rationalizing out loud why nothing more could be done.

"Without a report on file, we can’t even go knock on that door like that," a sergeant told a woman by phone, while parked outside the father’s duplex unit in west Atlanta. The woman had called requesting a welfare check, 11 days after the alleged kidnapping.

"Even if, say, we knock on the door and the kids are in there, there's nothing at all we can do," the sergeant said.

Five months later, one of the children would die of starvation, after being held for months inside that same squalid duplex unit.

Light discipline for low-ranking personnel

What we know:

That sergeant and four officers have been disciplined over how they handled calls to Rodney McWeay’s duplex unit, according to records of an internal investigation obtained by the FOX 5 I-Team through an open records request.

Those disciplined, according to APD records:

• Officer Michael Gaither, a written reprimand for not checking on the children after a child abandonment call in October 2022,
• Officer Duc Vo, an oral admonishment for not turning on his bodycam during that same 2022 call,
• Officer Courtney Pollock, an oral admonishment for not knocking on the door or investigating further when summoned by a child welfare worker to the duplex in June 2023,
• Sgt. Johnny Sutton, a written reprimand for failing to properly investigate a request for a welfare check in July 2023,
• Officer John Hurst, an oral admonishment for only briefly knocking on the door with a baton, without investigating further, after a call from a child welfare worker in October 2023.

911 records show there was another call for a welfare check in November, less than a month before 4-year-old Treasure McWeay died.

In that case, the police didn't show up until almost five hours after the call, past midnight, getting no answer at the door. The records provided to the I-Team showed no disciplinary action over that call.

A harrowing crime against children

The backstory:

Treasure McWeay died two weeks before Christmas 2023. Her father was charged with her killing.

Six months earlier, the state Division of Family and Children Services had removed Treasure and her brothers from their father’s duplex unit over "deplorable" conditions and the children appearing malnourished, according to DFCS records. The agency placed the children with their mother, who had fled to Maryland over alleged domestic violence.

Rodney McWeay then allegedly snatched the children back from their mother.

"So here's the deal. Dad went up to Maryland this past July," a DFCS case manager said in a 911 call with a request for a welfare check. "So (the mother) said let's sit in the car ... He strong-armed her, pushed her out, and stole the car with the kids."

McWeay apparently took them back to the same duplex unit they’d been removed from.

Arrest affidavits described Treasure and her brothers, ages 3 and 5 at the time, living in a house of horrors – kept separated and locked in their rooms, with surveillance cameras aimed at their beds and no access to food, water, or bathrooms. A DFCS report described mold on the wall, the stench of urine, no air on, and exposed wiring.

Fulton County arrest warrants show that, at her death, Treasure weighed just 24 pounds, described as "extremely malnourished and dehydrated." During a court hearing, a detective described her body as "just pure bone."

Dig deeper:

A FOX 5 I-Team investigation found that, between the kidnapping and Treasure’s death, DFCS repeatedly sought police help in locating the children.

But DFCS and the Atlanta Police Department barely worked together, the I-Team found, with McWeay able to keep them at bay merely by not answering his front door.

Law professor and former DeKalb County District Attorney J. Tom Morgan told the I-Team last year that McWeay’s door should have been kicked in. After reviewing the case files, he said he was shocked to hear of DFCS workers using 911 to call for police assistance, rather than some hotline or backchannel.

According to APD's own policies, Morgan said, the case should have been handed over to the department's Special Victims Unit, which would have a duty to take "immediate action" when a child is in danger and child protective services can't get into a home.

Also, under state law, every Georgia county must adopt a Child Abuse Protocol, describing how police, DFCS, judges, district attorneys and others will work together to prevent child abuse and neglect. Fulton County’s protocol has several pages describing how DFCS and law enforcement should cooperate, but Morgan said he found no evidence of that in the McWeay case.

The I-Team’s push for answers

After Treasure’s death, with the I-Team asking questions, APD announced an overhaul in how it handles DFCS calls for assistance. Calls about children in peril will be dispatched within two minutes and tracked over time to ensure proper follow-up, the department said. APD also said it would work with DFCS on specialized training for officers.

The I-Team repeatedly asked police department leaders to speak on camera about how officers handled the McWeay case. They declined, citing an internal investigation.

More than a year after Treasure’s death, the I-Team finally obtained that investigation’s findings in December and January, showing five personnel disciplined. The I-Team also obtained bodycam videos.

What's on the videos:

Sgt. Johnny Sutton, who was called to Renfrew Court soon after the alleged kidnapping, never got out of his car.

A woman had called the police, identifying herself as a friend of the mother, and asked for a welfare check.

"Mom has been trying to figure out where the kids are," she said in a phone call with the sergeant, heard on video.

Sutton asked her why the mother didn’t call herself.

"So let me explain to you the problem with these type of calls," he said. "We have to verify the case number if in fact this person did report the kids to be taken and whatnot, and make sure that they did the proper steps. Because sometimes you'll have people that will try to use the police to harass others."               

He’s then seen driving away, past the duplex.

The day before Halloween 2023, a DFCS case manager called 911, described the alleged kidnapping, and asked for an officer to meet her at the home.

"We know he’s there," she said of the children’s father.

But Officer John Hurst wasn’t dispatched until more than an hour and a half later, and by then the case manager had given up and left.

On his bodycam, he’s seen approaching the front door, rapping on the metal screen door with his baton, waiting about 40 seconds, then walking away.

"Do you remember walking around the residence to see if you could make entry another way?" an investigator with APD’s Office of Professional Standards asked the officer in January 2024, according to a transcript.

"No," Hurst said.

"OK. Why not?"

"Just didn't think about it at the time."

In another bodycam video recorded a year earlier, in October 2022, Officer Michael Gaither is seen interacting with Rodney McWeay and the children’s mother.

The mother had reported child abandonment, and she’s seen in the video outside the duplex with the officer as Rodney McWeay pulls up and parks. McWeay, brushes off the officer, telling him the children are OK. The officer tells the mother no crime has been committed.

He never checked the children himself.

"You just seen how he was acting," the mother tells Gaither. "He's gonna’ hit me once everybody leaves."

‘Laissez-faire response’

What they're saying:

Atlanta City Councilman Michael Julian Bond said he plans to ask APD leaders next week, during a Public Safety committee meeting, if that new policy they announced is working, including details about training.

The councilman reviewed the disciplinary records obtained by the I-Team. He said the response by multiple officers to multiple calls suggests "either these calls are considered mundane, or not as serious."

"I’m very disappointed in the reaction that obviously didn’t go far enough to save those children," Bond told the I-Team. "It is disappointing to watch those bodycam videos to see the kind of laissez-faire response to these particular calls."

Bond questions whether the discipline goes far enough, considering a child died. He said he spoke with Police Chief Darin Schierbaum about it, and the chief told him all the personnel involved had good personnel records.

"Going forward," Bond said, "there really needs to be the message sent to all responding officers that when you’re dealing with the children here in the city, you’ve really got to push the limit. You’ve got to push the envelope to make sure that we are using every means available to make sure that these children are safe."

The other side:

The department declined an interview request for this story, instead sending a written statement.

"On February 5, 2024, calls for service requested by DFCS were upgraded to a Priority 2 call," the statement said. "In 2024, officers responded to 147 DFCS-related calls for service, with an average response time of 35 minutes and 9 seconds from the time the call was received to officers’ arrival on the scene."

MORE: Atlanta police changes procedures following I-Team investigation into girl’s starving death

The department also described attending an event hosted by Fulton County DFCS "aimed to foster a more collaborative approach."

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Treasure McWeay and our hearts go out to her family and loved ones," the statement said.

What's next:

Rodney McWeay, 32, has a trial scheduled for June. He faces multiple felony and misdemeanor charges in the killing of his daughter and alleged abuse of her brothers and other family members, including murder, cruelty to children, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and family violence.

Atlanta Police DepartmentI-TeamAtlantaNewsCrime and Public Safety