Fired officers dispute excessive force claim

Three Clayton County police officers fired over accusations of excessive force are fighting to get their jobs back.

Channel 2’s Erin Coleman spoke with their lawyer, who said everything the officers did was justified.
   
”Their hopes for the future has been snatched away from them, and they're hurt, attoey Keith Martin said.

The officers involved in the incident are Michael Brayton, Benjamin Heandez and Richard Meehan. Taymar Williams was in custody Oct. 24 when, he says, the officers searched him for marijuana he didn't have.

According to the police report, one of the officers said Williams took marijuana from his underwear, put it in his mouth and started chewing it to destroy evidence. That officer then took a plastic zip tie cuff and stuck it in Williams’ mouth to retrieve it.

”I don't wish that on no one to be around officers laughing and joking, going through your body parts, Williams said.

But Martin said the officers did what they’re trained to do.

”They found evidence that would make a reasonable officer believe that the person had marijuana on him, and they used a zip tie to get it out of his teeth, not to introduce it into his throat, Martin said. ”These officers didn't use excessive force and what they did was reasonable under the circumstances.

After an inteal affairs investigation, Police Chief Greg Porter fired the three officers last week. Martin has already filed their appeals with the civil service board, but he has no current plans to take legal action against the department.
 
”We're not about getting even. We're about being right, Martin said.

Two other officers, Kenneth Cameron and David Ricks, were disciplined because of the incident but did not lose their jobs.