I don’t know that this technically qualifies as police misconduct, but it is local and newsworthy – a retired Myrtle Beach police officer was charged with felony DUI after an accident in North Myrtle Beach that left a motorcyclist dead. The retired officer refused to take the breathalyzer, but a blood sample was taken at the hospital that has been sent to SLED for testing.
————————————————————————————-
Former Kershaw County deputy Oddie Tribble has been sentenced to 5 years and 3 months in prison after being convicted of beating a handcuffed inmate with a steel baton last year.
As it turns out, in 2008 Tribble did the same thing, beating a handcuffed College of Charleston student with a steel baton – the student suffered a broken wrist and injuries all over his body. The 2008 case was investigated by SLED before being turned over to 5th Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese and Deputy Solicitor John Meadors, who did not bring charges against Tribble. Surprise, a few years go by and Tribble does the same thing again, beating a handcuffed man with a steel baton, this time until his leg is broken.
—————————————————————————————
The Pickens Chief of Police, Tommy Ellenburg, was suspended from his job for 15 days for making “racial remarks.” A bit more digging reveals that what he actually did was use racially derogatory language directed at citizens including the word nigger, and referred to members of the city council as nigger.
The word is offensive enough that even the news agency who filed a FOIA request to find out exactly what the chief had said cannot bring themselves to use the word in their article, instead referring to it politely as the “n-word.” The truth appears to be that Pickens has a chief of police who, like many in the South, has a sickness, and has it to the extent that he would use the word nigger, not only in the safety of his home or the backyard bar-b-que, but in public and even in reference to members of the city council. Is a 15 day suspension sufficient?
A 15 day suspension, and the publicity that comes from this event, might make the Chief of Police stop using the word nigger in public, but it will not stop his racism from coloring his decisions on the job. When racist public officials make themselves known, it should not be a question of punishment or discipline, it should be a matter of removing them from office before they have the opportunity to hurt innocent people. Racism is not behavior that a person learns to ignore after a slap on the wrist – it is a deeply rooted, culturally based illness that can color every decision that person makes with hatred. It is not rational, and in many cases it is incurable.
