MOULTRIE — The recent arrest of an emergency 911 operator revealed that a background investigation was never completed prior to her employment. The sensitivity of her job description mandates that a pre employment background investigation be conducted prior to hiring. The agency may be in violation of federal laws if they knowingly omitted a background investigation of all their employees.Colquitt County E-911 Director Teresa Warburg described Amanda Nicole Brooks as an “excellent dispatcher,” one of her best, until about six months ago when she was thought to become involved with Jason Baird, a suspect in a recent burglary spree spanning four counties.
Brooks, 20, of 1522 Funston-Sale City Road, was charged in Colquitt County Saturday with the false report of a crime and filing a false police report. She also faces attempted burglary charges in Worth County after she admitted to being present at the burglary in which her silver Toyota Corolla was used, Colquitt County Sheriff Al Whittington said. Brooks’ live-in boyfriend Baird is on the run. He could be driving a stolen tan Chevrolet dually truck.
Baird and his brother, Stephen, allegedly led lawmen on a high-speed chase Friday through Mitchell and Dougherty counties, wrecked and fled on foot. Stephen Baird later was apprehended and jailed.
Brooks filed a report Saturday that her Corolla was stolen after she allegedly learned of the crash, Whittington said.
Warburg said she has learned that Brooks, now fired, was afraid of Baird and said that Brooks had showed up for work with some scratches, bruising and dark circles around her eyes. Brooks turned down help offered her and remained in a relationship with Baird, she said.
“She had talked with several here, and they tried to counsel her and to help her, but she didn’t heed any of their help,” she said.
Calls from her boyfriend allegedly came in to Brooks while she was on shift, Whittington and Warburg said. Baird allegedly asked her to return his call on another line within the building, an unrecorded line in a conference room, they said, and she did when she had the opportunity. It’s unclear at this point what was discussed, Whittington said.
That line has since been removed, Warburg said. Also, Warburg implemented a policy of no cell phones allowed in the secured dispatch room. Only authorized personnel are allowed access into the dispatch room.
Warburg implemented background checks on all new employees after she became director nearly two years ago. However, Brooks had already been employed as a dispatcher for a short time, so she did not have to undergo a background check.
Warburg said she wants more thorough investigation of would-be dispatchers, and the sheriff agrees.
“We need to beef up background checks. That’s what I asked Teresa and the commissioners. We’ve got to start looking more closely, because this is our lifeline, and I don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Whittington said.
“Things like this unfortunately happen from time to time,” the sheriff said. “Some of them will fall through the cracks. Regretfully, it does give the law enforcement community as a whole a black eye. What we need to do is be more careful on backgrounds as we possibly can, but when we have someone in a position such as this that violates the law, I think that certainly they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The E-911 department is under the control of the county administrator and the Board of Commissioners. Whittington serves on an advisory panel to E-911 made up of law enforcement agency and emergency services representatives.
Commissioner Billy Herndon is the only commissioner on the liaison committee to the E-911 department.
“If there’s nothing against her in the background, then what can you do?” Herndon said, noting that the county administrator is responsible for hiring and firing employees.
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