I-Team: Atlanta VA’s police chief retired before being fired

By Johnny Edwards Published January 23, 2025 Atlanta VA’s police chief retired before being fired Another member of the top brass with the Atlanta VA Police Department has retired while under investigation. Police Chief Beverly Banks had been suspended with pay since May, when the VA began investigating her department's troubled culture. Then a recording emerged of Banks telling a staff meeting, she no longer wanted to hire Black or Hispanic women. Saying they come with, quote, "a whole lot of attitude." The Brief Beverly Banks, former chief of the Atlanta VA Health Care System’s police department, had been suspended with pay since May, when Veterans Affairs announced an investigation "due to employee complaints and allegations of unacceptable behavior in the police department … including allegations of sexual assault and harassment." The VA says Banks faced a corrective action that included a recommendation for her removal in 30 days. Before that time was up, she retired effective Jan. 10. Former Deputy Chief Johnnie McCullor, accused of sexually assaulting a former dispatcher, also retired while under investigation, in June. The VA told the FOX 5 I-Team its internal investigation ends with Banks’s departure. ATLANTA - A sexual assault allegation, reports of internal dysfunction, and a recorded rant about not wanting to hire Black or Hispanic women because they bring "a whole lot of (expletive) attitude." FULL STORY: https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/investigation-alleged-unacceptable-behavior-atlanta-va-police-brass-ends-not-discipline