Three Clayton County police officers were fired for using excessive force and conducting a strip search on a suspect who tried to eat marijuana during an arrest, the police department said Wednesday.
Two other officers will face disciplinary action following the department's internal investigation into the Oct. 24 incident, Chief Gregory Porter said. The names of the officers, whose time with the department ranged from three to six years, were not released.
The three officers losing their jobs were detaining a pedestrian suspected of having marijuana when the man tried to destroy the evidence by swallowing it, police said.
"In an attempt to retrieve the suspected marijuana from the violator’s mouth, the officers restrained the violator and physically attempted to force open his mouth by applying pressure points and inserting a plastic flex-cuff into his mouth," the police department said.
The officers then performed a strip search of the suspect without a supervisor's approval, police said. The officers' actions violated the department's policies, according to the internal affairs findings.
One of the two officers disciplined will have his or her rank reduced and be suspended without pay, and the other received a letter of reprimand, police said. Information about what happened to the suspect was not immediately available from police.
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