Crime & Safety

Smyrna Police Chief Defends Department

Chief Stanley Hook says "Not at all'' when asked if gun manufacturer Glock had financially supported his department.

Patch has reported here before on Glock Inc.'s former general counsel and former Vinings resident, Paul F. Jannuzzo, who is set to go on trial next year in Cobb County Superior Court on charges related to allegations that he misappropriated millions of dollars from the international firearms maker.

But an AJC investigation that landed across the front page of Sunday’s edition did much more than scratch the surface of the white collar crime that is of global interest. And while the investigative piece written by M.B. Pell has yet to be published online, those in the Jonquil City who have read the print copy were buzzing Monday about the people and details involved in not the one, but the two impending trials.

Glock, which manufactures semi-automatic, polymer handguns, and supplies firearms to the majority of law enforcement agencies in the U.S., has its U.S. headquarters in Smyrna at 6000 Highland Parkway.

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Of local interest in the detailed piece is that the company initially detailed crimes that it wanted investigated to the , not the FBI. The AJC article stated that Glock “has financially supported the police department – including paying for a $10,000 police dog.’’

Reached by Patch Monday afternoon, both Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon and Police Chief Stanley Hook said they had not read the AJC piece.

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“Not at all,’’ is how Hook responded when asked if the gun manufacturer had financially supported his department. Hook’s officers carry Glock 22s and Glock 27s. Hook affirmed that his department pursued the case objectively.

He also explained how it was the Smyrna Public Safety Foundation that helped purchased the K-9 officer ‘Paco.’ A review of Smyrna City Council minutes indicates Hook told this to the council at its Aug. 16, 2010 meeting. The SPSF is a 501(c) organization that promotes and serves both the City of Smyrna’s public safety employees and the community.  

Numerous local businesses, including Glock, make contributions to SPSF’s events and causes such as the recent Standing Together Benevolent Motorcycle Ride and Raffle and last month’s Smyrna Auction for Heroes Gala that netted $33,000 for the SPSF.

The AJC article said that a defendant’s testimony that was submitted to a Cobb grand jury as evidence, indicated Glock-provided funds were given with the intent they be passed along as “contributions to politicians friendly to the company.”

This, the story contended would allow Glock to avoid violating state and federal campaign finance rules. The story also says there have been no Glock-related campaign contribution violations from Cobb’s DA office.

“The City doesn’t depend on Glock for one dime,’’ Mayor Bacon said. “They pay taxes like everyone else. That company provides jobs. They get out and work in the community to make it a better place. IBM, Glock and about twenty to thirty other companies in Smyrna really give back to the community.’’

Jannuzzo, considered “the face of the American gun industry in the late 1990s and the early years of the 21st century,’’ is at the point of where if convicted on all counts, could face up to 20 years in prison.

Last year, Glock was awarded a 10-year, $40 million contract to provide pistols to The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and its agents. An estimated 65 percent of U.S. police forces carry Glocks.


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