Misconduct probes played role in departures of 4 Anderson police officers, records say

At least four Anderson police officers, including a veteran investigator, have been fired or have resigned since last week, apparently because of the fallout from separate probes into officer misconduct.

Anderson Police Chief Jim Stewart initially confirmed two officers were fired and one resigned but declined to provide the officers' identities or discuss the circumstances behind their departures. Late Thursday afternoon, following reporting from the Independent Mail and other media outlets, the Anderson Police Department confirmed in a prepared statement that two officers had been fired and two others had resigned because of two separate investigations.

Records obtained by the Independent Mail show that two of the officers who are gone are Garland Major and Jallas Carter. Major, who was an internal-affairs investigator for the Anderson Police Department, has a 34-year-career in law enforcement and was a captain in the Anderson County Sheriff's Office's Criminal Investigation Division before moving to the police force about 18 months ago. Carter had been at the Anderson Police Department since April 2016.

Records from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy show that the departures of Major and Carter are both classified as "resignations involving misconduct."

But the types of alleged misconduct are wildly different.

Major's departure came Monday after he completed a "covert investigation without the knowledge of the chief of police," according to records from the Criminal Justice Academy.

Major "requested a vehicle tracking device from another agency and placed it on a city vehicle without the knowledge of the chief of police," according to the academy's records.

Major said in an interview with the Independent Mail that he was doing what he was supposed to do as an internal-affairs investigator for the Anderson Police Department, investigating a complaint about an officer to determine if it had any validity.

"I used my own initiative and resources and was fulfilling my duties," Major said. "My job is to investigate to either sustain the complaint or exonerate the officer, and that is what I did. I always run a clean investigation."

Major declined to disclose which officer he was investigating or what he found.

Records show Carter left Aug. 9 during an Anderson Police Department internal-affairs investigation. Carter struck a handcuffed man in the abdomen four times with a flashlight in a closed fist while the man was in the back of a patrol car, according to the records.

ICYMI:Anderson Police Department faces 5 lawsuits over officer conduct within 14 months

"It was found that Officer Jallas Carter did use excessive force," reads a statement signed by Stewart that is included in the academy's records. "Statement revealed that Officer Carter did deceptively give false or misleading information until confronted by video."

Stewart released to the Independent Mail a July 19 police incident report that is connected to Carter's dismissal, but he declined to discuss how the record ties into it.

The report details several police officers, including Carter, responding to a complaint that two men were harassing customers at Murphy Gas Station on State 28 Bypass. According to the report, officers tracked one of the men to a church on Southwood Street and arrested him.

According to the police report, officers seized two Stanley wrenches and a pair of Pugs sunglasses. An officer noticed a bulge in the man's cheek as he was getting into a patrol car, according to the report. A field test showed that the item in the man's cheek tested positive as methamphetamine, according to the report.

The man was charged with shoplifting, failing to accompany an officer and possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it near a school. According to Anderson County court records, those charges are all still pending.

The Independent Mail has filed a Freedom of Information request seeking more information about the officers' dismissals.

In the police prepared statement issued late Thursday, Stewart acknowledged receiving that request and others.

"These personnel matters are of an ongoing and developing nature," Stewart said in the prepared statement. "The APD is committed to transparency and will keep the public informed as it is appropriate to release more information."

Check back for more information on this developing story.

Follow Nikie Mayo on Twitter @NikieMayo or email her  tips at mayon@independentmail.com