February 9th 2025.
The Atlanta Police Department recently came under fire for the actions of three of its officers, who have now been disciplined after Bodycam footage showed their lackluster efforts to find three children who were allegedly kidnapped by their own father. It was a heartbreaking case that ended in tragedy, and the APD's investigation into the officers' actions revealed that they had done very little to rescue the children during a welfare check at their father's home.
According to reports from Fox 5, the footage showed the officers trying to rationalize their lack of action. They claimed that they were unable to do much to ensure the safety of the children inside the residence. In fact, one officer even told a concerned woman who had requested the welfare check that they were not allowed to enter the home without a proper report on file.
"Without a report on file, we can't even go knock on that door like that," one of the officers can be heard saying in the Bodycam footage. "Even if, say, we knock on the door and the kids are in there, there's nothing at all we can do."
Unfortunately, their decision to do nothing had deadly consequences. Just five months later, four-year-old Treasure McWeay, one of the children at the center of the case, tragically died of starvation. Her father, Rodney McWeay, was charged with her killing.
It was later revealed that six months before her death, the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services had removed Treasure and her siblings from their father's care due to reports of domestic abuse. The children were placed with their mother, who had fled to Maryland. However, their father allegedly kidnapped them and took them back to the decrepit duplex unit where he lived.
The APD's hesitant response to the welfare check resulted in a relatively light punishment for the sergeant and four officers involved. They received either written reprimands or oral admonishments for their lack of further investigation in multiple instances. Arrest affidavits also showed that the children were living in squalid conditions, locked in individual rooms with surveillance cameras pointed at them. Their father withheld food, water, and even access to bathrooms.
Despite calls from the DFCS, the APD did very little to work with the agency and ensure the children's well-being. This behavior not only violated the department's protocol, but it also sparked outrage from Atlanta City Council members.
"I'm very disappointed in the reaction that obviously didn't go far enough to save those children," said councilman Michael Julian Bond. "It is disappointing to watch those Bodycam videos and see the kind of laissez-faire response to these particular calls."
In response to the incident and Treasure's tragic passing, the APD has launched an overhaul of its handling of DCFS calls. While they declined to comment on the officers' specific punishments, they did provide an update on the new policy.
"On February 5, 2024, calls for service requested by DFCS were upgraded to a Priority 2 call," the statement read. "In 2024, officers responded to 147 DFCS-related calls for service, with an average response time of 35 minutes and 9 seconds from the time the call was received to the officers' arrival on the scene."
However, city officials like Bond remain critical of the police's approach to child safety concerns. He emphasized the need for a stronger message to be sent to all officers responding to such calls, urging them to use every means available to ensure the safety of children in the city.
"Going forward, there really needs to be a message sent to all responding officers that when you're dealing with children here in the city, you need to push the limit," Bond stated. "You need to push the envelope to make sure that we are using every means available to make sure that these children are safe."
This tragic incident serves as a reminder of the importance of taking all child safety concerns seriously and of the need for effective communication and collaboration between agencies tasked with protecting vulnerable children.
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