SHIELDS OF SHAME | GEORGIA POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY | EMERSON
Damon Brick Boswell: Traffic Ticket Allegations, a GBI Investigation and Revoked Police Certifications
Investigative records describe allegations that an Emerson police officer offered favorable traffic ticket treatment in connection with contact lenses and automotive work. The GBI investigated, prosecutors declined charges, and Georgia POST later revoked his certifications.
Case graphic supplied by Shields of Shame. No verified photograph of Boswell is available. This graphic must not be represented as a verified portrait.
Agency: Emerson Police Department, Georgia
GBI investigation: 01-0047-14-15
Emerson employment ended: April 4, 2014, recorded as terminated
GBI prosecutorial decision: December 2015, no criminal prosecution
Georgia POST final sanction: July 8, 2016, certification revoked
POST officer key: O149268
Important distinction: administrative revocation is not a criminal conviction.
When a traffic ticket became an ethics investigation
The original allegations involved two separate incidents. In one, Ryan Mathis, a Walmart Vision Center employee, told investigators he received a speeding ticket in March 2014. According to his GBI interview, Boswell later contacted him and offered to reduce the citation in return for sample contact lenses for Boswell’s wife. Mathis said he supplied the samples but the ticket was never reduced and he paid it.
Emerson Officer Adam Rogers gave investigators a related account: he said Mathis initially asked whether Rogers could speak to Boswell about the citation. Rogers alleged that Boswell connected a reduction to obtaining contact lenses. Rogers also recounted information from Officer Christopher Barnes about contact lenses seen in Boswell’s patrol vehicle. These are witness statements, not independent proof of every claimed exchange.
The brake repair allegation
A second allegation involved Allen Rider and a traffic citation issued to Rider’s daughter. An April 1, 2014 internal memorandum by Lt. W. K. Teems described an allegation that brake work on Boswell’s wife’s vehicle was connected to a citation being reduced to a warning. The record also contains conflicting accounts about whether payment was made for the work. Those contradictions matter and must not be erased from the story.
Documents include citation and warning paperwork as well as witness statements. The presence of a changed citation does not by itself establish that an unlawful exchange occurred.
The department’s response
Lt. Teems’s April 1, 2014 memorandum recommended terminating Boswell and referring the matter to Georgia POST. The current POST officer profile confirms that Boswell’s Emerson Police Department employment ran from May 15, 2012 through April 4, 2014 and lists his separation as Terminated.
The GBI interviewed witnesses during 2014 and submitted its findings for prosecutorial review. On December 11, 2015, a GBI agent documented receiving the Bartow County prosecutor’s decision not to proceed because the available evidence was insufficient to support criminal prosecution. The file noted the matter could be revisited if additional evidence or victims emerged.
What happened to his certification?
The Georgia POST profile generated September 22, 2026 records a July 8, 2016 final action revoking certification. It lists revoked basic law enforcement, jailer, radar operator and lidar operator certifications. This is a documented administrative sanction, separate from the district attorney’s decision not to prosecute.
A career spanning multiple Georgia agencies
The POST employment history identifies prior service with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office, Polk County Police Department, Aragon Police Department and Polk County Sheriff’s Office before Emerson. Employment history alone does not imply misconduct at those agencies.
Why the public should care
Police officers have discretion in traffic enforcement, but discretion is not a personal bargaining chip. The records raise questions about supervisory oversight, changes to citations, how potential conflicts of interest are documented, and the difference between administrative standards and proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The case also illustrates why reporting a declined prosecution alongside a later certification revocation is essential to accurate accountability journalism.
EXCLUSIVE MEMBER INVESTIGATION
The Story Is Only the Beginning. Examine the Evidence.
What did the witnesses actually say? What changed on the traffic citations? And why did prosecutors decline charges while Boswell’s police certifications were later revoked?
Go beyond the public summary and step inside the Damon Brick Boswell investigative case file. The members edition takes you through the allegations, witness accounts, conflicting statements, department policies, key dates and unanswered questions, alongside the original records used to investigate the story.
Inside the premium case file
- A deeper breakdown of both traffic ticket allegations
- Witness by witness comparisons and disputed evidence
- GBI investigative material and Emerson Police Department records
- Georgia POST training and certification documentation
- Seven locally hosted source assets with explanations and direct document access
- What the records establish, what remains disputed, and what still needs investigating
Don’t just read what happened. See what the documents say.
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Damon Brick Boswell case: Frequently asked questions
Was Damon Brick Boswell criminally convicted in this investigation?
No criminal conviction is documented in the reviewed GBI file. Bartow County prosecutors declined prosecution in December 2015 because they considered the available evidence insufficient.
Did Georgia POST revoke his police certifications?
Yes. The Georgia POST record lists a July 8, 2016 certification revocation. The full administrative order is still needed to verify the precise findings.
Can readers examine the original investigative records?
The public article summarizes the case. A separate premium investigative file contains a deeper evidence analysis and a seven-item source library, subject to membership access and protected document delivery.
Questions that remain
We are seeking the complete POST revocation order and supporting administrative findings, the full Emerson personnel and disciplinary record, and confirmation of whether any related court docket exists. We will update this article when additional primary records establish new facts.
Editorial standards and right of reply
Allegations are attributed to the witnesses and documents reporting them. Prosecutors declined criminal charges in the GBI matter. Georgia POST separately revoked certifications in 2016. Neither an allegation nor an administrative sanction is described here as a criminal conviction. Shields of Shame is independent of the agencies named. Corrections and documented responses are welcome.
Sources: Georgia Bureau of Investigation investigative summary 01-0047-14-15; Emerson Police Department memorandum dated April 1, 2014; Georgia POST officer profile dated September 22, 2026. Last reviewed October 17, 2026.