A long-time Dunwoody police officer has been charged with domestic violence.
Mark Stevens, the community outreach officer for the force and an employee since 2009, was arrested on Aug. 18 by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department and charged with battery-family violence – a misdemeanor offense.
Dunwoody Police Information Officer Michael Cheek confirmed Stevens’ arrest in an interview with Rough Draft on Oct. 2.
“I can confirm that Officer Stevens is the person who was arrested,” Cheek said. “Because it is an active investigation, we did not release any information about the arrest.”
Cheek said the department is running an internal investigation in conjunction with the Forsyth agency.
“Once the investigation is complete, we have 10 days to release all information,” he said. “In the meantime, Officer Stevens is on paid administrative leave.”
Inexplicably, Stevens’ arrest information has disappeared from the Forsyth County Inmate Inquiry website, which includes names of individuals who have been charged with both misdemeanors and felonies.
Searches by Rough Draft under the officer’s full name, last name only, charge, and date of the incident reveal no arrest records on the site.
The charge against Stevens, who is a resident of Cumming, is listed as a first offense. He was released without having to pay a bond, according to information obtained by Rough Draft.
Cheek said he doesn’t know why Stevens’ arrest information isn’t on the Forsyth website. Rough Draft filed a public records request on Oct. 2 with the department, but no information has been provided yet.
Stevens is a highly visible employee within the city as a community outreach officer. He is the main point of contact for the Citizens on Patrol Program, as well as the organizer of the department’s Citizens’ Police Academy.
He was recognized in 2014, along with Anthony “Kerry” Stallings, for changing the diapers of two small children whose parents had been arrested for shoplifting. Police Chief Billy Grogan, at a city council meeting, presented both officers with a “tactical diaper bag” and commended the officers for remaining calm and doing “their diaper duty.”
This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.