Macon Police Department Getting 60 Tasers, Still Waiting for Forensic Results in GBI’s Kroger Shooting Investigation

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Macon Police Department will get 60 new tasers this fiscal year.

Chief Mike Burns and Mayor Robert Reichert Thursday afternoon broke the news to the Public Safety Committee.

Weeks ago, councilman Henry Gibson questioned why the police department didn’t have a taser requirement for officers.  He says tasers could have prevented the December shooting death of Sammie Davis, Jr., at the Pio Nono Kroger.

But Chief Burns says the weapons can only be used under certain circumstances and shouldn’t be considered as a fix-all.

Currently, the department has around 20 tasers and those belong to the SWAT team.

Update on Kroger Shooting Investigation

Mayor Robert Reichert says the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is still waiting on forensic results before it can complete its investigation into the Dec. 21 police-involved shooting of Sammie Davis, Jr.

The mayor begged the committee and the general public to remain patient while waiting for the results.

“The district attorney is waiting for the GBI to complete its investigation and until then, he’s not speculating or releasing partial results,” says Reichert.  “He’s waiting for the full file to come back and then he’ll start his review of the completed investigation file to determine or not whether there’s any criminal misconduct in this incident.”

If the district attorney determines no criminal conduct was involved, the case will be turned back over to the police department’s Internal Affairs division.  They’ll determine if Officer Clayton Sutton should face any punishment by the department by reviewing the shooting case and other incidents involving Officer Sutton.