DeKalb sheriff suspends himself after indecency arrest

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County Sheriff Jeff Mann, who was arrested for allegedly exposing himself in Piedmont Park, is suspending himself for one week.

“I cannot ask my employees to abide by a code of conduct unless I am willing to subject myself to it as well,” Mann wrote in an email sent to employees Tuesday.

Channel 2 Action News obtained the memo in which Mann said his apology “should not be construed to suggest or imply guilt.”

His suspension begins Saturday and lasts until June 4.

Mann said in the email that he will send “one week’s pay to a charity or charities to be determined in the very near future.”

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Channel 2's Nicole Carr tracked Mann down to ask him about the memo.

“Can we ask about the suspension?” she said.

“No, it speaks for itself,” he said.

Carr talked to residents, who were surprised by the sheriff’s decision to discipline himself.

“Hell, we should all be able to discipline ourselves. If we could discipline ourselves, there’d be no need for a supervisor,” one man said.

Mann is fighting a governor-appointed investigation into charges stemming from his May 6 arrest.

He has requested an emergency hearing to discredit the state investigation into his conduct. His defense challenges its constitutionality, asking what the decision is based on, whether it needs to be unanimous and what the standard of proof is.

Cox Media Group