Fort Worth officer fired after being accused of making false statements, police say

An officer’s employment with the Fort Worth Police Department was terminated after an internal investigation found that he made false statements regarding his professional duties, the department announced Friday.

Officer Cody Atkinson was fired from the department on Friday, police said in a news release. The investigation looked at several accusations of untruthfulness between October and January, the release said.

On Oct. 28, police said, Atkinson was untruthful about his location after he was dispatched on a domestic disturbance call for service with another officer. He did not respond to the scene, according to police.

On Jan. 12, another officer found seized property in Atkinson’s patrol vehicle and questioned him about it, the release said. Atkinson told the officer he seized the property the night before, but forgot to take it to the property room, according to police.

However, the police report indicates Atkinson took custody of the property on Jan. 5. After the property was found in his car, Atkinson transported it to the property room and supplemented the report with a false statement that after losing the property in his vehicle, he subsequently found and tagged the property the day after the seizure, the release said.

After this allegation, Atkinson was placed on restricted duty and was stripped of all police powers during the course of the investigation.

On Jan. 27, while on restricted duty, Atkinson failed to report to work on time and told his supervisor that he had to go to the municipal court, police said. The department said it later discovered that he had not been contacted by the court and he admitted to being untruthful to excuse his tardiness.

“After a thorough review of the Internal Affairs investigation, Officer Atkinson’s chain of command determined that Officer Atkinson violated multiple Fort Worth Police Department policies,” police said in the news release.

Police Chief Neil Noakes agreed with the chain of command’s decision and terminated Atkinson’s employment with the department.

Atkinson had been with the Fort Worth Police Department for six years and was assigned to the Patrol Bureau at the time the investigation began.

“The Fort Worth Police Department will continue to hold employees accountable who do not meet the standards expected of a Fort Worth Police Officer and in doing so, will continue to be transparent and open with our community,” police said in their statement.