A former Shelby County sheriff’s deputy, Louis Hamlet, has found himself decertified and out of the law enforcement profession after a Tennessee state commission voted unanimously on the decision. This follows an incident involving consensual oral sex with a court clerk inside a courtroom, Action News 5 reports. The act took place after the court had adjourned, but while the courthouse remained open to the public.
The Tennessee Peace Officer Standards & Training Commission held a hearing where Hamlet admitted to the sexual conduct he was involved in; however, he maintained it was the clerk who performed the act, saying, "I didn’t engage in oral sex. She engaged in oral sex. I received," a statement obtained by WREG. Despite initial claims from the clerk of being forced, the criminal investigation concluded the acts were consensual, and Hamlet was not charged, but the inquiry showed he had neglected his duty to patrol the hallways, engaging in activities inconsistent with his role as an officer.
When asked by a commissioner during the decertification hearing, Hamlet affirmed he was in uniform and on the clock during the encounter, yet he expressed that similar incidents had occurred with other officers who were not terminated, as per Local Memphis. Despite his attempts to delay the hearing pending a separate civil service hearing, the move was declined, leading to his immediate decertification at the hands of the commission.
