RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said the sheriff’s office has updated its training and policies after six former officers pled guilty to torturing two Black men in January.
“This past January, inappropriate conduct from an isolated group of deputies injured citizens in our county and undermined the reputation of this department. The safety and security of our citizens, and visitors, is one of our main objectives, and we take all occurrences of this nature very seriously,” Bailey said.
The department revamped its patrol policy and procedure manual. Bailey said many of those policies are now on the department’s website. There will be a new tab on the website by Friday, December 1 for submissions for compliments/complaints.
Bailey said they have hired an internal affairs investigator from outside of the department and will expand the Compliance Division to include additional internal affairs investigators.
The changes come after the high-profile case involving members of the “Goon Squad.”
According to court documents, the sentencing hearings for the former officers on the following dates:
- Hunter Elward – January 16, 2024
- Jeffrey Middleton – January 16, 2024
- Christian Dedmon – January 18, 2024
- Daniel Opdyke – January 18, 2024
- Joshua Hartfield – January 19, 2024
- Brett McAlpin – January 19, 2024
deputies pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for the racist torture of two Black men has asked a federal court to dismiss a civil lawsuit against him, Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. (AP
Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
The men admitted in August to subjecting Michael Corey Jenkins and Eddie Terrell Parker to numerous acts of racially motivated, violent torture.
After a neighbor told one of the former officers that the two were staying at a home in Braxton with a white woman, he assembled a group of five other officers. They burst into the home without a warrant and assaulted Jenkins and Parker with stun guns, a sex toy and other objects, prosecutors said in court, reading a lengthy description of the abuse.
The officers taunted the men with racial slurs and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces. After a mock execution went awry and Jenkins was shot in the mouth, they devised a coverup that included planting drugs and a gun. False charges stood against Jenkins and Parker for months.
The conspiracy unraveled after one officer told the sheriff he had lied, leading to confessions from the others.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.