Tallassee mayor turns to ALEA after officer uses Taser on handcuffed man

The mayor of Tallassee is now turning to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency for help regarding what he thinks are “concerning” uses of force by the Tallassee Police Department and one officer in particular.

In a short letter sent Wednesday morning to Hal Taylor, secretary of law enforcement for ALEA, Tallassee Mayor John Hammock requests an investigation into the Tallassee Police Department. 

"Secretary Taylor, I am requesting an investigation of the Tallassee Police Department for use of excessive force on two different occasions. I am resigning from my position as Mayor of Tallassee at 4 p.m. on June 30th. I would appreciate some help from an outside agency to make sure things are investigated thoroughly and in a timely manner," Hammock wrote.

Hammock also sent Taylor and email Tuesday evening detailing two instances of abuses of force by the Tallassee Police Department and pleading for ALEA to investigate Cpl. David Justin Salum.

One of the incidents Hammock mentions is a TPD officer’s use of a Taser against a handcuffed man on Sunday, video of which has circulated social media this week.

Perry Jackson, the man in the video, has met with attorneys in Montgomery and plans to file a lawsuit.

Both Hammock and Jackson identified Salum as the officer who fired the Taser. Tallassee Police Chief Todd Buce refused to confirm the name of the officer in a phone call with the Advertiser Tuesday evening.

On Sunday, police responded to a call of a gunshot near Rushing Circle and West James Street in Tallassee, which Jackson said a woman fired into the air during an altercation. As the fighting took place near his front yard, Jackson said he tried to break it up.

While obtaining information about the gunshot, officers learned that Jackson, who had an outstanding warrant with TPD, was present. In a press release, TPD said that Jackson briefly tried to run from officers but “acquiesced and was taken into custody.”

The videos shared on social media begin as members of the Tallassee Police Department walk Jackson toward a police cruiser already wearing handcuffs.

“He didn’t do nothing,” a voice is heard saying in one of the videos. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Officers then begin to pat Jackson down. Jackson said that officers were asking him to get in the backseat of the cruiser, which he refused to do, claiming he had done nothing wrong.

Jackson is then seen trying to throw his phone to someone nearby. The phone hits the officer in the face, which Jackson said was accidental.

The officer then grabs a Taser from a fellow officer and points it at Jackson’s chest, only about 18 inches away. A few seconds later, he deploys the Taser and Jackson falls to the ground.

After the officers picked him up and placed him in the cruiser, he was taken to Tallassee Community Hospital, where he said that hospital staff had to remove the barbs from the device that were still stuck in his torso.

Jackson showed the two wounds, located inches from one another on the bottom of his chest and the top of his stomach, on Tuesday. Under the bandages, one was still bleeding.

“My heart’s right here,” Jackson said. “Could have killed me, man.”

Jackson was booked at the Elmore County Jail and charged with failure to appear and harassment. He has since been released on bond.

Hammock said that Salum was also involved in another incident in which officers used excessive force. Hammock said that Salum was one of a group of officers who beat a man named Toney Brown on May 31 after a brief car chase.

Brown, 47, was also at the news conference on Tuesday and said that "at least three" Tallassee police officers, one of which he claims was Salum, beat him over the head with their batons. Officers had caught him on foot after he had jumped from his car, Brown said.

Brown was hospitalized and required staples in five different locations on his head.

"The pictures of [Toney] Brown and the report are very disturbing to me," Hammock wrote in his email to Taylor. "This man was beaten severally (sic) and multiple staples put into his head."

In his email to ALEA, Hammock said he told Buce on Tuesday that he wants the officer in the video "terminated immediately."

Julian McPhillips, founding attorney and president of McPhillips Shinbaum, said the firm is working on filing a complaint against the Tallassee Police Department for Jackson and Brown.

“This is something we take a stand against,” McPhillips said. “We think it’s wrong when somebody gets tased, especially when they're handcuffed.”

Hammock said he's been assured that ALEA will investigate 

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com.