DeKalb sheriff disciplines deputies, changes how civil warrants are handled Written by Valerie J. Morgan DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown DECATUR--DeKalb County Sheriff Thomas Brown is changing how civil warrants are executed following a videotaped arrest involving four DeKalb deputies who verbally abused an Ellenwood family while serving a warrant at 1 a.m. The YouTube video made national news after it went viral with more than 300,000 online views. Concluding an internal investigation, Brown announced Aug. 12 that deputies will now issue civil arrest warrants once a week by 11 p.m. L-R: Gerald Rose, Natania Griffin and Donavan Hall hold a press conference outside the sheriff’s headquarters on Memorial Drive in Decatur. He also said his department will make criminal background checks on individuals to help them better assess cases before deputies go out. Brown announced the changes as he handed down the disciplinary action he took against the four deputies who cursed and threatened the Ellenwood family. The incident happened on July 26. The family refused to open the door to their home for more than 30 minutes, saying they were fearful. When they did open the door, deputies stormed in, cursing them at gunpoint. The family captured the incident on video and uploaded it on YouTube. “I will tell you that I was very appalled by what I heard. It is not what I expect from my deputies who are serving civil, nonviolent warrants,” Brown said at a press conference following an internal investigation. “I have a problem with the lack of leadership shown by the incident commander. I think he needed to have been in charge of the situation. I think he needed to understand what he was dealing with when he got on the scene and had he been armed with what he was dealing with then it would have been his responsibility to take a deep breath, encourage his troops to take a deep breath and possibly approached this thing another way.” Deputies were serving a warrant on Natania Griffin, who was in arrears on a $1,000 court bill. Griffin’s 23-year-old son, Donavan Hall, said deputies stated the wrong address when they initially arrived, but persisted in ringing the doorbell and knocking. Hall asked from behind the closed front door why deputies were at his family’s house but he said they refused to answer. “Sgt. Michael McGhee had a responsibility to at least read the warrant, know what he was getting into, and he didn’t do that,” Brown acknowledged. The sheriff said he demoted McGhee to deputy. Brown said McGhee had the opportunity to take an early retirement if he did not want to take the demotion. Deputies Ray Hunt, Charles Dix and Aaron Jackson were all suspended without pay. Dix and Jackson were suspended for 8.5 hours, the equivalent of one day, and Hunt was suspended for 17 hours, the equivalent of two days, Brown said. The suspension marked the second time that Jackson, who has been with the Sheriff’s Department since 1999, has been disciplined. He also was suspended last year for public criticism of the agency, Brown said. The family said they were not satisfied with Brown’s action, adding that the family had received no apology from the sheriff. Hall said deputies not only verbally abused him and his younger brother, but physically abused them. He said deputies stepped on his head and hurt his arms. They threatened to use a taser gun on him and his brother, Hall said. “We are not satisfied as a family. We will not be satisfied until all of the officers involved in this matter are fired and are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Griffin, who said she planned to take legal action. “This is bigger than just coming to someone’s house at an inappropriate hour. They dragged me out of my house, attacked my children and trampled on our constitutional rights. We have a right to be safe within our homes.” Gerald Rose, who heads the New Order National Human Rights Organization, said no justice was served by the sheriff’s disciplinary actions. “This is a slap in the face. He (Sheriff Brown) should have set an example,” Rose said. “This is a man who is running for the U.S. Congress. The system has failed us. We’re going to protest. There’s no way you can come up with that kind of light discipline and call it justice after witnessing that videotape.” The sheriff said he believes the disciplinary actions were fair. He said the family should have opened the door when deputies first asked them to do so and since they did not, the deputies’ suspicions were heightened. Brown said law enforcement officers do their best to protect themselves and the public. They had no way of knowing what was going on behind the closed door. Brown said the proper thing to do when law enforcement officers are ringing or knocking is to open the door.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 09:28:36 +0000
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