GEORGIA
Former Jail Sergeant Dwight Hamilton, 54, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced last week to one year in prison for abusing a female inmate by tasing her without justification, according to officials.
Leonard Dreyer, Hamilton’s former supervisor at the jail, was sentenced to one year of probation conditioned upon his serving 21 days in a halfway house for attempting to obstruct the federal investigation into Hamilton’s use of excessive force by making false statements to the FBI, officials said.
“Hamilton’s unjustified violent actions grossly violated the civil rights of an inmate whom he had a sworn duty to protect,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division. “Any unlawful act of violence or malice by an officer against an inmate will not be tolerated by this Department of Justice.”
At the sentencing, Federal Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr. said Mr. Hamilton’s actions showed an “extraordinary absence of empathy,” and that Hamilton “was out of control and a lot of people suffered because of it.”
“Abuse of power by any law enforcement officer is always unacceptable,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “Law enforcement officers stand in the gap every day to keep us safe, whether they are patrolling a beat, or a correctional officer working in a jail or prison. Hamilton’s conduct is not reflective of how we expect officers to conduct themselves. In this country, even those incarcerated have the right to fair treatment and decency.”
Hamilton, who worked as a sergeant at the DeKalb County Jail, admitted during his guilty plea that on Nov. 1, 2011, he responded to the medical floor of the jail when an inmate asked to speak to a supervisor because her family visitation had been unexpectedly cancelled by jail staff.
Rather than explain the situation to the inmate, Hamilton tased the inmate until she defecated on herself. Hamilton, who had been trained on proper Taser usage, admitted that he knew that tasing the inmate under these circumstances was wrong but did it anyway.
As a result of the tasing, the inmate suffered permanent scarring to her breast.
Hamilton pleaded guilty to his charge on Nov. 20, 2017.