Wake sheriff fires deputy after guilty plea and will revise police dog policy
Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker has fired the K-9 deputy who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges Monday in the Kyron Hinton dog bite case.
Baker said some people wanted Deputy Cameron Broadwell terminated immediately after the April 2018 altercation with Hinton on Raleigh Boulevard, in which the unarmed Raleigh man suffered multiple bites and a broken orbital bone. But Baker said he wanted to let the case take its legal course first.
“It’s a sad day for the office and the citizens of our county,” said Baker, who was elected in November. “We lost a good officer.”
Broadwell, a deputy since 2008, pleaded guilty to willfully failing to discharge his duty in the Hinton case. As part of his plea agreement, he must surrender his law enforcement certificate. The district attorney’s office dropped felony assault charges against Broadwell, whose trial began Wednesday.
District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said she would recommend that Baker’s office revise its K-9 policy so that dogs are only used to apprehend violent offenders. The sheriff said Monday that changes will be made soon.
“We’ll continue to use it,” he said. “We just want to use it the right way.”
Wake County has nine K-9 officers on staff. As written, its 2015 K-9 policy says the handler will give a verbal warning before releasing a dog, including the fact that it may bite suspects who do not surrender.
Broadwell told Hinton three times, “Get on the ground or you’re gonna get bit!”
This story was originally published May 13, 2019 at 5:34 PM.