After DeKalb County Police Officer Brandon Brown admitted soliciting a bribe to let a pot smoker go free last month, then knocking a cell phone out of the hands of a woman secretly recording the transaction, civil rights attorney Mark Bullman said this case should be in court.

WSB's Pete Combs first broke the story on Wednesday. COMBS:  Cop admits to soliciting a bribe at hookah bar

"The fact that the police officer resigned shouldn't be the end of the story," said Bullman, a former police officer   who handles cases involving police abuse. "This is a crime. He violated his oath and the criminal code. You and I can't commit a felony and not be held responsible for it. It's a horrible precedent."

"It saddens me," said Police Chief Cedric Alexander, calling the Brown case a symptom of poor self-esteem and low morale among officers.  "The DeKalb County Police Department has lost some of its swagger."

However, Alexander said, neither low esteem nor bad morale justifies the commission of a crime by an officer of the law.

Alexander said he is determined to put his department back on a track that leads to integrity and instills faith from within the community.

While attorney Bullman said he hopes Brown is prosecuted, Chief Alexander said he's working to restore that swagger among his troops.