CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. — A Camden County, Georgia corrections officer is facing charges of Aggravated Assault after shoving a jail inmate and knocking him unconscious, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
There is disturbing video of the incident.
37-year-old Sgt. Joshua Beauchamp’s disciplinary record is extensive, with warnings from supervisors dating back to 2015.
The records depict earlier concerns about Beauchamp not showing up for work and once even failing to search inmates coming into the jail.
Over the last year, several use of force incidents by deputies and detention officers have put the jail in the public spotlight.
The earlier incidents include fights between jail employees and inmates, and on two occasions, Civil Rights Attorney Harry Daniels said his clients were beaten.
First Coast News Crime Analyst Mark Baughman said the looming threat of security camers usually prevents this kind of behavior.
“If there are cameras,” Baughman said, “that deters a lot of that activity because cameras capture everything. Good and bad. Whatever the correctional officer may do or may not do.”
According to a Dec. 2019 report, a supervisor said he spoke with Beauchamp about: “his decline in performance, judgement calls or lack thereof” and advised him to improve or step down as a shift supervisor.
Managers have issued him at least eight warnings regarding work quality and carelessness.
“It goes back to training,” Baughman said. “It goes back to, ultimately, who their supervision, all the way up to who’s your director of the facility.”
Camden County Sheriff James Proctor could not be reached for comment, but a spokesperson said:
“Additional training is currently being conducted for Correction Officers. Also the State of Georgia mandates that certified Peace Officers receive 20 hours of training annually. Sheriff Proctor requires forty (40) hours for employees, twenty more than is mandated by the State of Georgia. This training includes de-escalation training, The protocol for Use of Force, Stress Management, to name just a few. Additional training programs will be forthcoming in the future.
Currently we do not have knowledge of any other incident requiring internal or external investigation. Disciplinary action on employees not following procedure and policy are quickly investigated. Any and all Use of Force incidents are examined by multiple staff and Command Staff. General and unannounced audits are being conducted, specifically of jail video for compliance and quality control.”
The inmate was treated at a hospital and released.
“Even though it didn’t appear that the inmate was in any way fighting or pulling away,” Baughman said, “he may have said something that triggered the correctional officer to do that, but nonetheless, it’s not the right course of action for the correctional officer to take on the inmate.”
The GBI is still investigating. When they’re done, it will be up to the Brunswick District Attorney’s Office to decide whether or not to prosecute.
First Coast News reached out to every Camden County commissioner. Two didn’t respond for comment, and Chair Ben Casey told us the commissioners have no control over the sheriff’s office and they just “supply him with money.”