Some Say He Is A Good Man

From Bad Cops News:
http://www.badcopnews.com/camden-county-georgia-deputy-sheriff-albert-crosby-fired-for-excessive-force-now-wants-his-job-back.html

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WOODBINE, GEORGIA - A former Camden County sheriff’s deputy who was fired a year ago for using excessive force to subdue a suspect is suing to get his job back.
An attorney representing former deputy Albert Crosby has sent a 42-page letter to the sheriff’s office and the Camden County Commission notifying them of their intent to file a lawsuit in federal court. Government agencies must receive notices to sue 30 days in advance. The letter was sent Dec. 26, Crosby said.
In her letter to the county, Columbus attorney Lea London claims Crosby has been “severely and forever harmed in his personal and professional life” because he was fired from the job he held for six years.
“He will allege that he has suffered damages and injuries from the wrongful dismissal of him as a deputy sheriff with Camden County, Ga.,” London said in her letter to the county.
Crosby and another deputy, Richard “Sean” Billington, were fired for using excessive force in the arrest of Irwin Kirk Griffen, 22, of Cary, N.C.
Griffen was arrested Feb. 8, 2006, after leading authorities on a 45-minute high-speed chase through three counties. He was stopped after he drove his vehicle over stop sticks, a mat with hollow sticks that deputies laid on the highway to puncture and slowly deflate Griffen’s tires.
After Griffen stopped his vehicle, the videotape from a camera mounted on the dashboard of a deputy’s patrol car shows officers run to Griffen’s car with guns drawn and drag him from his vehicle. The video shows Brantley County deputies punch the suspect repeatedly. Billington is seen driving his knee into Griffen’s torso several times. The video also shows Crosby using pepper spray on the suspect.
The fired deputy’s wife, Amanda Crosby, a former bailiff in the Camden County Courthouse, was also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. London claims the sheriff’s office retaliated against her after they learned her husband had hired a lawyer to challenge his firing.
Amanda Crosby was “effectively removed from her duties in the courthouse against her wishes” and reassigned as a road patrol deputy, the letter says. Amanda Crosby quit her job of nine years and now works for the Camden County Road Department, her husband said.
Officials with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office said their policy is to not comment about any type of pending lawsuit. Preston Rhodes, chairman of the Camden County Commission said he hasn’t seen the letter of intent to sue the county, adding that he couldn’t comment on any lawsuit filed against him and fellow commissioners.
Crosby said his goal is to get his job back, with back pay. He also wants a public apology from Sheriff Bill Smith, who fired him after the incident.
He said the sheriff’s office never followed its policy after the incident, which should have included reviews of the videotape by the chase review board, as well as a review by the disciplinary board.
Crosby said his only role after the chase ended was to use pepper spray to help deputies subdue Griffen, who Crosby said was resisting arrest.
The extensive coverage of the incident by newspapers, radio and television was “devastating,” Crosby said.
“I never thought they would put me out to dry like that,” he said of the release of the video to the media. “I never wanted to do anything but work for the sheriff’s office.”
Crosby, who is now a patrol officer for the Glynn County Police Department, said he was given two years’ probation and a reprimand by the Peace Officers Standards and Training Council, the regulatory agency that certifies law enforcement officials and grants them arrest powers in the state. Billington, who was rehired as a deputy in Camden County, was given three years’ probation by the agency and reprimanded for his role in the arrest.
Crosby said he was upset that all the criminal charges against Griffen were dropped including one of attempted murder of a police officer for ramming a patrol car during the chase.
“The threat [to the public] was really high,” he said. “He totally ran a red light, ran people off the road, tried to hit police officers with his car. He wanted to get out of that situation by any means necessary.”
Crosby said Griffen should have been charged criminally and his release sends a dangerous message to criminals aware of the outcome of the chase.
“If you run from the police and assault a police officer, you can get away with it,” he said.
Crosby’s attorney could not be reached by telephone Monday to say when she plans to file the lawsuit in federal court.