An officer who is under investigation for using force against a prisoner in the Harris County Jail while working as a detention officer was fired by the Houston Police Department.
Following the police department’s inquiry into the incident, Deven Ortiz was notified on social media on Thursday that he would not be joining the force.
Just three months before to starting the police school, Ortiz was working as a detention officer at the jail when the use of force event occurred. Ortiz was moved to administrative responsibilities by the police department in December while they awaited the investigation’s conclusion.
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The Harris County Sheriff’s Office claimed in a statement to Houston Public Media after Ortiz’s reassignment that the former detention officer, who resigned in April of last year, is the subject of several Internal Affairs investigations that resulted in the Administrative Disciplinary Committee recommending that he be fired for policy violations.
According to that statement, the district attorney’s office received evidence from the investigations from the sheriff’s office to assess if criminal charges are appropriate.
After handcuffing the convict and pinning them against the wall, the detention officer inside the joint processing center is seen in an alleged video of the incident that ABC13 posted, dumping the inmate to the ground.
