Records: Atlanta police helped arm ex-chief finance officer

ATLANTA – Records show an Atlanta police supervisor helped arrange for one of former Mayor Kasim Reed’s advisers to obtain a police-issued handgun.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports taxpayer dollars were used to buy a Glock 9mm-calibre handgun in 2016 for the police department. Records show it was then issued to former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard.

A spokesman for Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said Beard’s duties didn’t require a handgun.

Beard’s lawyer, Scott Grubman, said his client was assigned a weapon by Atlanta police “in connection with his official duties as CFO.”

Police spokesman Carlos Campos says the department’s procedures were amended when it was learned police issued weapons to someone who wasn’t a police officer.

Documents surrounding the gun purchase have been given to prosecutors in response to federal subpoenas.

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Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com