Outrage at convicted cop killer transferred from maximum security prison
The sheriff’s office said the man convicted of the 1999 murder of a police captain mocked the officer’s family behind bars. An outraged sheriff caught the attention of state lawmakers.
ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers want those convicted of murdering a police officer to serve their sentences in the state’s highest-security prisons. This comes after a convicted cop killer was accused of using his privileges at a medium-security facility to mock the cop’s family on social media.
Captain Robbie Bishop was killed in his squad car on Interstate 20 in 1999. He is legendary among Georgia law enforcement, and there was outrage when it was revealed that his family was being taunted by his killer, Jeffrey McGee, behind bars.
Captain Robbies Bishop with a trailer of confiscated drugs from a photograph released at the time of his death in 1999
“The families of our fallen officers have suffered enough and the Bishop’s Act would prevent those families from ever being victimized again,” said Rep. Clint Crowe, R-Jackson, the sponsor of the bill. “When I was serving as a 911 dispatcher at the age of 20, Captain Bishop inspired me to become a law enforcement officer myself, so I’m proud to carry this legislation on behalf of his family. Those who murder law enforcement officers should never have the chance to obtain contraband to harass the victim’s family. I want to thank Chairman Collins for helping me move this legislation forward and giving it a chance to become law as soon as possible.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long said the family of Capt. Bishop contacted him and said the state recently transferred McGee from a maximum-security prison, where he was serving a life sentence for Bishop’s murder, to a medium-security facility, where he posted pictures of himself online behind bars and taunted the family officers.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long
Sheriff Long said prison officers told him and the Bishop family that they searched McGee’s cells and found a cellphone, but said it belonged to his cellmate and that no disciplinary action would be taken.
The sheriff wrote about the incident on social media, eventually drawing the attention of Gov. Brian Kemp and several lawmakers. McGee was quickly returned to a maximum security facility.
“I still remember the horrific day that Captain Bishop’s life was taken,” said J. Collins, chair of the House Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee, R-Villa Rica. “I want to commend the Georgia Department of Corrections for quickly transferring this offender back to a maximum security prison. However, this incident drew our attention to this very real and unfortunate problem. This law is vital to prevent this from ever happening again.”
On Monday, a proposal to keep convicted cop killers in high-security facilities despite their conduct, HB 1553 was presented to the Georgia General Assembly and is named after fallen officer Captain Bishop.
A photo of Long after a traffic stop where drugs were confiscated in a secret compartment
Robbie Bishop specialized in freeway interdiction and was credited with large-scale seizures of drugs and money from cars traveling on Atlanta freeways. Sheriff Long said Bishop’s methods are still used by law enforcement agencies across the country and are what he used in his own career as a street deputy.
“Robbie was the guy. He was the law enforcement professor, and unfortunately, on January 20, 1999, he made the ultimate sacrifice,” Long said.
McGee was sentenced to life imprisonment after his arrest in Canada. His name appeared in Bishop’s book of quotes as the last warning ticket written that day.
WATCH: FOX 5 NEWS LIVE COVERAGE
_____
