A large crowd of angry individuals packed the Quitman County, Ga., commission chambers Tuesday as they voiced complaints against the sheriff’s department.
About 100 individuals attended the commission’s monthly meeting, with nearly half of the audience standing along the walls. A handful of individuals spoke at the meeting, accusing the department of harassment, profiling and racism.
“Every black person you see — male, female — does not sell drugs,” one young mother said to Sheriff Steve Newton. She said she has been “harassed” three times by deputies, including one occasion where she was stopped because she had a dealer’s tag on her vehicle.
Robbin Paige referred to a April 25 incident where her daughter backed into one of the protective poles at a local gas station. Paige said she went to the station to inquire about the incident, but was treated rudely by a deputy who was on the scene.
“If you say another word, I will lock you up and put you in jail,” was what Paige said she was told by the deputy.
“Something needs to be done about this. That’s why I had my name put on this agenda,” she said. “He’s not a people person. You don’t need him to work in Quitman County. He’s going to hurt somebody eventually.”
Newton defended the deputy, who was mentioned by name on several occasions during the meeting. The sheriff said that he has reviewed in-car video from incidents where the deputy has been questioned, and has found the deputy acted properly.
“I’ll be the first to admit he’s not the friendliest person you’ll meet when he’s working,” Newton said. [But] this deputy is not going to hurt anyone.”
Several residents groaned after Newton made the comments about the deputy.
Newton told Paige and other residents at the meeting that deputies have to be extremely cautious when working incidents.
“You walked up on the scene. That’s not the place to argue cases,” he said.
“We don’t know who everyone is. There could be an armed person… waiting for an opportunity to kill that deputy. Please don’t walk up on the stops.”
Newton added that racism within his department “is not going to happen on my watch.” He said that there have been 35 blacks and 26 whites arrested this year. Most of the arrests are for drug charges.
“It’s pretty close to even. We do not profile by race. If you have evidence of that you bring it to me and I’ll take care of it.”
More on this story will appear in an upcoming edition of The Eufaula Tribune.
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