Smyrna Officer Resigns After Police Files Found in Polk County Garage

Smyrna police officer Cpl. Cleveland McDuffie resigned Dec. 21 after some missing Smyrna police files were recovered in a garage in Rockmart in Polk County, reported by The Marietta Daily Journal.

On Nov. 16, authorities found more than 200 pages of printouts and separate items of evidence from cases in a 10-year span at a property formerly owned by Jessica Goggins, a former records clerk for the Smyrna Police Department.

The MDJ reported Saturday that "the files were taken off premises by McDuffie without authorization," and an internal affairs investigation was carried out, followed by McDuffie's resignation.

Smyrna police spokesman Michael Smith told the MDJ that the security breach is isolated, and that McDuffie had violated department policies by bringing police evidence home and later leaving them with a former city employee to burn the mishandled files because he had no place to store old documents.

Cobb County officials say they do not foresee a need to revisit past court cases after the security breach, and the incident will not cost taxpayers money for retrials.