MACON, Ga. — A candidate for Bibb County sheriff was disciplined twice after internal affairs investigations in 2021 and 2022.
Capt. Christopher E. Patterson worked at the sheriff's office for 32 years, and says he was voted the county's best officer five times, but he was punished for his role in the internal investigations.
For the first, Patterson was verbally counseled. After the second, he was suspended for four days.
Here's what the internal affairs investigations revealed.
Domestic Situation at Amerson
Amerson River Park is usually a place to unwind, take in scenery and look at the river.
On Jan. 25, 2021, it was the scene of what Patterson calls a 'domestic situation.' He knew the man involved — a fellow Bibb County officer.
"He took off his Bibb County Sheriff's Office shirt and said he was, "f---ing done with this s--t," Amerson Park ranger Tracy Starling said in her internal affairs interview.
Starling says the Bibb Sheriff's Office sergeant blocked his wife's vehicle and stabbed one of her tires with a knife. Bibb County reports say the sergeant suspected his wife was cheating.
"That officer's captain was over there. And he didn't know what to do, so he called me because I actually worked with that officer," Patterson said.
Patterson says he talked the sergeant down and everyone left, but according to the report, he and the captain never took the man's knife. Patterson says that's standard procedure, and that the captain should have taken it because he was there first.
"You always secure weapons, or anything dealing with an officer," Patterson said.
Later that day, the sergeant wound up at a Bibb County school. He allegedly confronted the school official he suspected of having a relationship with his wife.
"That's all that happened at the school, that I know of, that his spouse called the school and blew it up a little more than it was," Patterson explained.
Eventually, Patterson and the captain got the sergeant to a mental health professional for evaluation.
Neither Patterson nor the captain ever filed a report until an anonymous complaint a couple months later.
For not taking the weapon and not filing a report about the dispute, records say Patterson got verbal counseling for improper conduct.
Disciplining a Child at Stratford Academy
In Sept. 2022, there was another internal investigation after an incident at a Stratford Academy football game. According to the report, a mother accused Patterson of gripping the arm of her 7-year-old son so hard, he left bruises.
"When I went to speak to the young man about getting off the fence, when I walked towards him to get his name, he took off running," Patterson said.
He says the boy ran, but Patterson caught up with him; and he says he never gripped the child's arm.
"I would never hurt a child. As a matter of fact, I asked Stratford if they had video of this situation," Patterson said.
Stratford didn't have any video that could show the incident happening. The report says investigators couldn't determine whether Patterson bruised the boy, but they called his behavior toward the boy's mother 'Conduct Unbecoming' and suspended him four days.
Patterson says he raised his voice because they were standing next to the band.
"I did tell her, I said, 'Ma'am, he's probably the most disrespectful little boy I've worked with,'" Patterson said.
Patterson says the main reason he was suspended is because he wasn't wearing a bodycam. He said he thought as a captain, he was exempt from the department's policy.
Patterson says he accepts the punishment for the Stratford incident, and said if he was sheriff, he would have suspended the officer, too. He added he wasn't aware of the discipline from the Amerson incident.