Tallulah Falls mayor says police audit ‘eye opening,’ outlines policy changes

TALLULAH FALLS, Ga. — Tallulah Falls Mayor Mike Early said an audit of the town’s police department identified policy shortcomings and potential concerns involving “abuses” of procedures, following a closed-door executive session Tuesday.

The Town Council reviewed the audit during executive session after a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. No formal action was taken following the discussion.

The audit was previously confirmed earlier this year as part of an internal review into the police department, which Mayor Early said stemmed from reports involving off-duty details and officer compensation practices, according to prior reporting by Now Georgia.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Early told Now Georgia the audit findings were “eye-opening” and will lead to policy changes within the department.

“It was, it was eye-opening, and so we see that there are some shortcomings that weren’t part of our policy,” Early said. “So we’re going to address getting, getting some of those policy changes made.”

He said some of the issues identified may not have involved illegal activity but raised concerns about how existing policies were followed.

“There were some ways that could, while it might not have been done illegally, there were things, there were abuses that look like they took place,” Early said.

Early said policy revisions will be discussed further at a future council meeting, but specific proposals are not yet ready for public review.

“I assume, most likely we’ll talk about some of the policy changes we want to see,” he said.

However, Early said he does not want to present changes publicly before discussing them with Police Chief Tonya Elrod.

“I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t want to say just yet,” he said. “I really want to have an opportunity to talk to the chief about some of them ahead of time… I don’t want to blindside her in a public meeting.”

The audit itself was not released publicly, and officials did not provide additional details during the meeting.

The council adjourned following the executive session.