Sheriff loses peace officer certification following civil rights violation conviction
Victor Hill was accused of illegally having jailhouse inmates strapped to restraint chairs.
Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill has been stripped of his law enforcement certification.
The Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council revoked Hill’s certification two months after he was convicted on six charges of violating the civil rights of Clayton County Jail, The Atlanta Journal-Constituion reports. The 22-member council voted on Dec. 1 to remove Hill from the peace officer position.
“This means he is not a certified peace officer in Georgia,” said Chris Harvey, deputy executive director of the council, adding that Hill would be required to reapply for certification if he wishes to become an officer again.
As reported previously on theGrio, citing The Associated Press, a federal jury found Hill guilty in October following his 2021 indictment. Hill ordered detainees strapped into restraint chairs for hours even though they posed no threat and complied with deputies’ instructions. The use of the chairs was unnecessary, was improperly used as punishment and caused pain and bodily injury in violation of the civil rights of seven men, prosecutors argued.
Defense attorneys argued that Hill did not exceed his lawful authority in using the restraint chairs, noting that they were used to keep order in the jail.
According to The AJC, prosecutors claimed that personal motives were behind Hill’s actions. They said the former sheriff had a vendetta against one detainee who was put in the device because he was allegedly disrespectful to Hill.
Another argued with Hill on the phone and was strapped to the chair as “revenge” said prosecutor Bret Hobson, terming “personal” Hill’s actions in that particular case. “That was punishment. That was illegal,” he said.
Prosecutors also said, The AP reports, that the chair was designed to keep violent or uncontrollable detainees from causing harm to themselves or others, but Hill used it as a punishing device. Some men were strapped in the chair so long that they urinated on themselves.
Hill, who is to be sentenced in February, is free on bond. His attorneys intend to appeal the conviction, according to The AJC.
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