By Bailey Aldridge
The News & Observer
BOLIVIA, N.C. — A North Carolina detention officer was fired after taking a booking photo of a man in his underwear, authorities said.
The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office in Eastern North Carolina wrote Wednesday on Facebook that it had been made aware of a photo circulating on social media of an inmate “who was photographed for his booking photo wearing only his underwear.”
https://www.facebook.com/brunswicksheriffNC/posts/231079382383070
The sheriff’s office said the fired detention officer, who was not named, took the photo and uploaded it to the inmate list, which the sheriff’s office said is “not acceptable” and a violation of its policies and “core values.”
“Inmates, regardless of who they are or why they are being detained in our detention facility are to be treated with respect and dignity,” the sheriff’s office said. “We have policies in place to preclude incidents like this from happening and unfortunately that policy was not followed.”
In the Facebook post, the sheriff’s office apologized to the community and to the man and his family for “any embarrassment this incident has caused.”
Brunswick County is in southeastern North Carolina, near Wilmington and about 160 miles from Raleigh.
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