Stephens County Sheriff’s Deputy fired after OP/ED piece alleges multiple policy violations

A local citizen has made several allegations against a Stephens County Sheriff’s Deputy in an Op/ED that was published in The Toccoa Record on Thursday, October 28, 2021; since being published, that deputy has been terminated.

Buster Smith writes that on Thursday, October 14, he was riding his bicycle to downtown Toccoa; however, when he was heading home, he was pulled over by a Stephens County Sheriff’s Deputy.

Smith writes, quote “He got out of his car and was walking up to me. He immediately started using very vulgar language. Several times he would ‘F—-this’ or ‘F—-that.’ He then told me that his body cam was turned off and at the time I thought it was strange that he would tell me that. I replied, ‘Whatever, but it suits me if you turn it on. I would like for everything to be recorded,” end quote.

Smith’s letter continues to detail being arrested for riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road.

At one point, Smith describes being swatted by the deputy, writing quote, “He then took his hand and lightly swatted my hand. I responded by lightly swatting his hand. He then told me I was under arrest and got out his handcuffs,” end quote.

Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley issued the following statement today regarding the incident: “Citizens of Stephens County, as your sheriff, someone once said ‘there’s always three sides to every story, mine, yours, and the truth.’ Well, I’m here today to let you know the truth from an internal affairs investigation. The Office of Professional Standards began looking into this unfortunate incident last week.

“One of my deputies, and a citizen riding his bike had a late evening encounter over the minor offense of riding his bike on the wrong side of the road. During the course of this contact, it was brought to my attention that the deputy was extremely rude, carrying himself and speaking in a way that is counter to what I expect from my deputies. Ultimately this encounter led to the arrest of the citizen for this very minor violation.

“As soon as this incident was brought to my attention, my office began gathering pertinent information relating to the incident and opened an internal investigation. Due to the seriousness of the allegations against the deputy, he was placed on administrative leave while the investigation was conducted. My office was able to conclude the investigation on Thursday, October 28, and submit the internal report with the findings. The findings were that this deputy violated multiple policies and acted in a way that is detrimental to the standards of this office. As a result of these findings, the deputy’s employment was immediately terminated.

“As Sheriff of Stephens County, I, along with my command staff, have worked very hard to advance this agency where both our employees, and our citizens can be proud of their small-town sheriff’s office. The demeanor of this one deputy has now cast doubt in our community and has negatively impacted his peers. I am deeply saddened by this, and I hope that our citizens recognize that the actions of a single individual do not reflect the morality of a whole profession,” end quote.

WNEG News requested footage from both the Deputy’s Body Camera and the Deputy’s Patrol Car Dash Camera from the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office on Friday, October 29, 2021.

At this time, the identity of the now former Sheriff’s Deputy involved in this incident has yet to be released.