Shada Canzater, a 35-year-old sergeant with the Hapeville Police Department near Atlanta, has resigned after being arrested on child cruelty charges, just a month after her promotion was publicly celebrated. She was taken into custody on 31 August by deputies from the Houston County Sheriff's Office and now faces charges of first-degree cruelty to children, aggravated assault and simple assault for family violence, though officials have not disclosed what prompted the arrest. Police Chief Bruce M Hedley confirmed her resignation, a stark reversal from his praise of her "dedication" and "leadership" when she was made sergeant on 5 August.

Canzater had served with the department since May 2019 and had been promoted twice, but this is not her first brush with the law. In 2024 she was charged with four misdemeanours, including two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, after fatally striking pedestrian Donell Holiday, 63, an attorney and Air Force veteran, with her patrol car in 2023 while he was crossing the street. Holiday died in March 2024 following brain surgery, and Canzater's plea hearing over that case had been scheduled for later this month before her latest arrest.