A Dalton Police Department
officer arrested for child molestation was placed on administrative leave nine
days ago after allegations surfaced and is expected to be fired.
Daniel Harrison Tolbert, 32,
was arrested today and booked into the Whitfield County jail.
Tolbert was placed on
administrative leave “immediately after being informed by the Whitfield County
Sheriff’s Office and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) that he was being
investigated on suspicion of child molestation,” according to a press release from
the Dalton Police Department.
While Tolbert is currently on
administrative leave, the city will begin the process of his termination
immediately.
“I am very disappointed to hear
about this allegation, and upset about the discredit this will surely bring on
our department, and officers,” Dalton Police Chief Jason Parker said in the
press release. “We would never condone or support the kind of behavior that
would warrant this charge ... the men and women of this department hold
ourselves to a very high standard of behavior, and we know the community we
serve expects our behavior to be beyond reproach.”
Tolbert has served the Dalton
Police Department for three months after completing the police academy in
September. He was sworn in on Sept. 16. At the time of his suspension, Tolbert
was still in the department’s field training program. Because of his status as
a trainee, Tolbert was never unsupervised or alone while on duty as a Dalton
officer. Probationary trainees ride with an experienced training officer for
three phases of field training for at least four months after completing the
police academy.
Tolbert is a native of
Fayetteville, where he graduated from Lovejoy High School, according to
information on the Dalton Police Department blog. Tolbert continued his
education, graduating in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in political science
from Fort Valley State University. In 2012, he received a master’s degree in
criminal justice from Georgia College and State University.
Before Tolbert joined the
Dalton Police Department, he had a law enforcement background. He worked for
the U.S. Border Patrol in California and was a jail deputy with the Clayton
County Sheriff's Office. Tolbert served in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2008.
