A screen capture from surveillance video at the Hamilton County Jail, left, shows corrections officers Daniel Harden and Andrew Standifer holding inmate Stephen Minney as he was moved from booking to a holding cell Sept. 17.
Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond said the department’s excessive force policy may be revisited after two corrections deputies did not follow procedure with an intoxicated inmate.
The policy on excessive force should be tightened up, according to a memo from Hammond in the internal affairs file on the incident.
“What I wanted to do was make sure this particular case – was it what it was reported to be? [The issue is] not about them being adequately trained, but about whether the training is the best it can be,” Hammond said. “We have a responsibility to keep the inmates safe and jailers safe. Anything used is going to be constantly reviewed, depending on issues that come to forefront.”
On Sept. 18, corrections officers Daniel Harden and Andrew Standifer moved 55-year-old Stephen Minney from the booking area to a holding cell. While they were placing him in the cell, Minney got a cut on his head.
Minney, a homeless man, was arrested by East Ridge police officers on charges of public intoxication after he was found walking near Parkridge Medical Center. He was verbally abusive and uncooperative, according to multiple reports.