* SAVANNAH POLICE SavannahPD.org ADMINISTRATIVE INVESTIGATION Incident Report OPS NUMBER: 21-0031 EMPLOYEE: Sgt. Christopher Hewett, Cpl. Erica Tremblay, and Officer David Curtis DATE: April 7, 2021 INVESTIGATOR: Sergeant Eric B. Smith ‘On Monday, April 26, 2021, The SPD Internal Affairs Unit was made aware of a derogatory meme that had been posted in a media chat amongst officers of the Eastside Precinct. The meme showed ‘what appeared to be a male figure run and jump onto a chair, then flipped and hung himself. This ‘was alleged to be a depiction of a suicide that had occurred weeks earlier at SPD Headquarters. ‘The meme was reported by a member of the Savannah Police Department. I was assigned to investigate the complaint. April 26, 2021 PR#64274 The following is a synopsis of an interview with Officer Rodheem Greene. The interview was ‘audio recorded only. Prior fo the interview, Officer Greene was provided a copy of the Garrity warnings to which he read, signed, and dated, confirming he understood its contents. Officer Greene began the interview by saying that last November (2020) he was targeted by his watch and the did not like the way he was policing. He said that he has aspiration to work in the Traffic Unit and therefore has completed several trainings such as DUI certification. He said that he worked the “rough” side of town and he was out working and being active. He said a lot of his activity is during the early morning hours (3am). Officer Greene said they are assigned to a permanent night shift. He said that officers and supervisors on the watch started targeting him by coming to his scenes and questioning his reasoning for stopping vehicles. He said the Truman Parkway runs through his beat, so he thought it was fine to sit at one of the main thoroughfares to do work. He said that the watch is nothing more than a “buddy system”. Officer Greene said that the officers would find little things to go back and tell the supervisors about. The supervisors (Sgt. Chris Hewett and Cpl. Erica Tremblay) would then address those issues based on what other officers have reported to them, He said one of the officers that was a part of the “buddy system” was Peter ‘Suppa, who has since been assigned to the Traffic Unit. He named Officer David Curtis (the officer P.O. Box 8032 + Savannah, Georgia 31412 + 912-652-6500 + Fax 912-651-3645 + www SavannahPD.orgwho posted the GIF), Officer Joseph Eblin, Officer Robert Parker, and Sergeant Hewett as the “ringleader”. Hie said he wanted to say something about how him and other officers were being treated. Officer Greene said he and others were afraid to report anything due to the possibility of retaliation. However, in February, new personnel arrived at the Eastside Precinct to include a new captain, Before the change, he alerted the captain at the time which was Captain George Gundich. He said he told him, and other black officers were being targeting for doing work and being proactive. He said he also let his lieutenants know about what was going on because he said he could not talk to his supervisors, He eventually submitted a Form 48 to request a transfer from the watch. He said he had issues specifically with Officer Curtis. He described them as associates at work. He said he had his friends before he became an officer and that he reports to work to work and not be friends. However, he said when needed, he would fight with them and for them if necessary. Officer Greene said at the end of the day, he will not be drinking with anyone of them. He said that’s just his personality and feels that they don’t like that about him and saw him as if he was better them. He said he was just confident and passionate about being a police officer. Officer Greene said he was eventually removed from their watch and switched to other watch with Sgt. Petit. He said once he arrived at the other watch, he learned that there had already been talk about him as an officer. He said he was cornered by Officer Brenner who reminded him that she had heard about him and they don’t stop cars all day. He said he never worked with her before, so he knew someone had told her this. He was finally placed on Sgt. Leach’s watch and was on the watch for two weeks when the incident occurred at Police Headquarters. He said that Officers James Clowers, Jeremy Lambert, and Christopher Johnson will be able to confirm what he was telling us. He said since being placed on administrative leave he had not heard from anyone. He eventually received a call from Officer Johnson who asked him to face time him so he could show him something, So, he facetimed him as he asked, and Officer Johnson told him about a GIF that ‘was posted in the watch’s group chat. He said Officer Johnson described the GIF as a man with a rope around his neck, who performed a “gymnastic move” while flipping and hanging himself. He said the caption said, “Is this too early to send this to Greene”. He said he knew that officer that posted it, Officer David Curtis, knows that he is not the kind of guy that plays those games. He said he knew that they were not friends. In fact, Officer Curtis was one of the last officers he “got into a situation with” prior to being transferred to another watch. He said that Officer Curtis called hhim out over the radio about riding a call in his beat. Officer Greene said he went to Sgt. Hewett to address the issue he had with Officer Curtis. He said that Sgt. Hewett confronted him instead about coming to his office and telling him what to do. He said that Sgt. Hewett stood up and started yelling at him. He knew that Officer Curtis was a friend of Sgt. Hewett’s. Officer Greene continued by saying that the watch is segregated and that the white officers are assigned to beats north of Victory Drive and the black officers are assigned to beats south of Victory Drive. He said that the only other white officer that road north beats was Officer Peter ‘Suppa, who has since been assigned to the Traffic Unit. Officer Greene continued by saying that Officer Aramis Gonzales now rides that beat and noted that he is a minority as well. Officer Greene said that Officer Jordan Hoff, who is no longer with the department, told him and Officer Lambert prior to resigning that there was another group chat that included supervisors where they talked about the black officers. According to Officer Greene, former Officer Hoff, told Officer Lambert not to tell anybody what he shared with him because that was their ‘little secret” chat. He said he did not know whether that was true or not, but after seeing the GIF that was posted, he said hebelieves it because he knew that they did not care for him. Officer Greene said that former Officer Hoff was the only white officer that was a mutual party on the watch, and that they were “beat buddies” when he was with the department, He said that Officer Hoff saw no color that he was neutral. Officer Greene continued by saying he attended Memorial Day School and he knew the difference between “good Whites and bad Whites”. He pointed out that one of his best friends is white and that he will be the Godfather to his children. He said the officers that he worked with were the “bad” Whites. Officer Greene confirmed that the GIF was not posted in the “secret chat” but in the B-watch chat. He said he was surprised they were that comfortable putting that in the chat. He said he was traumatized by what happened at Headquarters weeks before. He said by that having man hang himself and trying to revive him has been a traumatic experience for him. So, he said for someone to make a joke about something like that did not sit well with him. He believes the GIF was created and not searched like most GIFs are. Lt. Barefield asked who was in the chat with him from the watch, Officer Greene said that the group consisted of Sgt. Hewett, Cpl. Tremblay, Officer Curtis, Officer Chris Johnson, Officer James Clowers, Officer Jeremey Lambert, Officer Joseph Eblin, Officer Dallas (Robert) Parker and Officer Aramis Gonzales. He also said there were a few former officers still in the chat as well, like Kyle Vandever. Officer Greene said that only a few people have checked on him to see if he was okay, but no one from his watch. He said he has heard the rumors and saw the reports from the news, and it would have been good to hear from co-workers. He expressed his embarrassment for being a part of an event such as this. He also expressed his disdain for being targeted while on the B-watch and working with “racist people”. He was asked whether he knew who responded to the posting of the GIF. He said that other than Curtis and Tremblay, Officer Lamber responded by posting, “dot, dot, dot”. He said he took that as if Lambert was saying “what the!” Officer Greene showed us the GIF from his phone. He perceived the figure as a black man in the post. He said that after seeing the post of the GIF, he was devastated so he reached out to Captain Young. He said he really called to quit his job because he saw how he was being treated. He felt like the post was blaming him for the death, but he said he tried to save the man’s life. He said he told several commanders about the officers he worked with were racist, He said he expressed his concerns with his co-workers to his command to notify them of their behavior. Lt. Barefield asked him if he knew whether Sgt. Hewett had any interaction with the image that was posted, and he said “no”. He said that all the messages come to their phones and he is sure that Sgt. Hewett saw the post at some point. He confirmed that Cpl. Tremblay is still a supervisor of their watch. He said she was “salty” about not getting promoted. Officer Greene said that he is a confident man and believes in what he does, but he said, “those guys are racists”. He said it’s not just Officer Curtis, he was just the one who got caught, according to Officer Greene. He said he hoped that we could check the “other” group chat because we would probably see some things, He said he felt uncomfortable when he saw the GIF. He said he slept on it before he made the decision to come forth with it. Officer Greene said he does not want this to affect his job in the future because he came forward with this complaint. I asked him were there any other moments before he left where there were derogatory post of others. He said he did not think so, but that Officer Chris Johnson was another officer that was being targeted. He said he has been on scenes and witnessed Officer Johnson being cursed out by Sgt. Hewett, but he encouraged us to ask Officer Johnson about that incident. He recalled stopping a vehicle in front of the DFACS building on Wheaton St. one night because the car’s taillights were not on. Once they stopped the vehicle,