We are calling for Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond to resign from office immediately.

Three times in the last two years, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) has made national headlines for their mistreatment of Black bodies.

• In December of 2018 Mr. Charles Tony was beaten by detective Blake Kilpatrick while in handcuffs.  
• In July of 2019 Mr. James Mitchell was illegally cavity searched on the side of the road by Deputy Daniel Wilkey.  
• And most recently: On May 23, 2020, four of the Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies beat Mr. Reginald Arrington Jr. on the roadside. Arrington, unarmed, handcuffed, immobilized by a deputy, was struck over 30 times. This horrific scene is all too familiar. As a nation and here at home, we have mourned and marched. Two days before George Floyd cried out for his mother and gasped, “I can’t breathe,” Reginald Arrington Jr. pleaded with the words, “Ma, they’re cutting off my air!”

Former Deputy Wilkey was indicted on 44 criminal charges, including six counts of sexual battery, two counts of rape, and nine counts of official oppression. Additionally, he was accused in a wrongful-death lawsuit of fatally shooting an unarmed man in the head while working as a law enforcement officer in Rhea County, TN in 2014 before joining the HCSO. The man was receiving treatment at an emergency room when Wilkey killed him. Wilkey may no longer be with the department, but Hammond referred to him as a “good and seasoned” officer.

Deputy Blake Kilpatrick has a documented history of violence. While a Deputy in Meigs County, as reported in the December 19, 2018 edition of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, he forced his way into his then-girlfriend’s home in 2006. He threatened to hurt everyone in attendance and hit her while trying to punch another man. He then refused to “comply” and leave when law enforcement intervened. Kilpatrick remains employed by the HCSO.  

Four of the officers who beat Reginald Arrington Jr. have separately been involved in prior cases of alleged brutality, including two other beatings. All of these deputies remain on the force in active duty. Just as these patterns of violence are being repeated, Hammond is repeating the same justifications as the violation of Reginald Arrington’s rights makes the news. Hammond references legal and coded terms like “law and order” and “justifiable force” and “due process” to uphold and justify this latest brutal beating. If it is legal and justifiable and within the Sheriff Department’s guidelines to hit a man with batons who is on the ground in handcuffs, then the racist rage of Hammond's deputies is state sanctioned and points to the reality that everything that is legal isn’t right. We demand law enforcement that upholds the rights of citizens, not one that systematically violates them.

These are not “isolated incidents.” How many more of these videos of brutality by deputies of the HCSO do we need to see to recognize that this is systemic—that there is a pattern? Hammond denies a system of racism and bias exists in his department. Hammond is blinded by his own privilege and racism, and racism is deeply embedded in the system he guards so dearly.

Hammond upholds racism by highlighting the troubled history of those who are victims of his officers’ brutality while hiding or overlooking the criminal history of his own deputies. Hammond has violated his oath of office by depriving Black citizens their 14th US amendment rights through a consistent pattern of excessive force being administered to the Black citizens of Hamilton County.

All of this is enough to demand Hammond's resignation without even mentioning the mysterious crashing of the server that compromised 15 months of evidence against your officers, or the fact that Tom Morsche, Managing Director of PFM, the firm the county hired to consult on the future of the jail in 2015, said the Hamilton County jail should be “shut down.”

In 2012 Hammond's heart and policing strategies were revealed in his infamous quote regarding those he called “gang members” when Hammond said, “We need to run them out of town, put them in jail or send them to the funeral home.”  That is his idea of “law and order.”

Reforms to curtail police brutality and harassment must be a collective endeavor between law enforcement, elected leaders, and the community. Change requires good faith partners, and we believe there are many good faith partners who recognize systemic racism plagues our society and that the current police methodology is inept. We are eager to come together with all parties to ensure a more just society that honors the dignity of our Black and brown siblings. We are convinced, however, that Hammond's actions do not indicate that he is up to the task.

As Sheriff, Hammond's actions and words make evident he neither sees the need nor lacks the desire to improve HCSO. At the June 17 panel hosted by the Chattanooga Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Hammond proposed HCSO already had policies in place. He boldly stated, “There is nothing to change.” We noticed he conceded that there is a problem with implementation. Further, Hammond relinquished any responsibility and said “major changes” would not happen until more people joined the police force increasing diversity and quality of applicants. In short, Hammond's plan is to do nothing and take no responsibility. This position is not only a failure of leadership but a dereliction of duty.

Hammond is accountable for his words and decisions as the leader of the HCSO. And his recent actions have caused us to lose faith and confidence in his capacity to effectively and justly serve as Hamilton County’s highest law enforcement officer.

Let's stand up together and demand accountability within the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, starting with the resignation of Sheriff Jim Hammond.

*Please note that a majority of the above verbiage was borrowed from this letter signed by pastors and clergy members' most recent call for Jim Hammond's resignation.