The Flowery Branch Police Department (FBPD) recently hired a new deputy chief.
FBPD announced in a Facebook post on Monday that John Powell was sworn in, bringing 40 years of law enforcement experience throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
As noted by some commenters and members of Facebook group “Eyewitness News Hall County GA,” Powell brings a controversial past with him.
Powell was fired from his role as Glynn County police chief in early 2021 10 months after he was placed on leave following an indictment.
That indictment was due to what prosecutors called an illegal effort to cover up a narcotics officer’s affair with a confidential informant.
At the time, Powell faced charges of perjury, violating oath of office, and witness tampering. Powell’s chief of staff Brian Scott was also indicted.
Glynn County police’s drug task force was ultimately dismantled due to the case, and Scott was fired from his job as police chief of Vidalia a few months later when the second indictment was issued.
It is important to note that the Georgia Supreme Court threw out that indictment in 2024.
The unanimous ruling determined that the indictment’s flaw was that it was charging both Powell and Scott with violating a part of their oath to uphold due process rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. The justices said that turning a blind eye to police misconduct is not a due process issue.
Powell was placed on administrative leave in February of 2020 just days after Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot. Powell’s department did not make any arrests at the time, and arrests only came when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) took over the case more than two months later.
The former charges against Powell were unrelated to the department’s handling of the Arbery case.
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