Local clergy urge Ware County to review resolution calling for use‑of‑force reforms and citizen review board

Reverend Pharrell Malone, president of the Concerned Clergy of Southeast Georgia and pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, asked the Ware County Board of Commissioners on Dec. 8 to review a proposed resolution addressing what he described as an instance of excessive force used against two young women at the county fair. Malone said he has shared videotaped material with county leaders and met with the sheriff, who has referred the case to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

Malone outlined key elements of the proposed resolution he submitted to county staff: mandatory retraining for all POST‑certified officers on de‑escalation and use‑of‑force protocols; strict enforcement of body‑worn camera activation and retention policies; automatic referral to the GBI for incidents involving force, injury, hospitalization, disputed arrest or citizen complaints; accountability measures for false or misleading incident reports; victim‑family engagement protocols; and the creation of a trained citizen review board with defined composition and authority.

Commissioners thanked Malone for bringing the matter forward and noted limits on the commission’s authority over the elected sheriff. One commissioner said the sheriff’s decision to turn the matter over to the GBI was appropriate and that the commission would await the GBI’s findings before taking formal steps. Malone said he had met with the sheriff and that the sheriff had been “amenable to working with us.”

The request is procedural at this stage: Malone asked commissioners to review the resolution over the coming month and meet with county leaders, the sheriff and city police officials to discuss next steps. He said he would return to present the resolution at a future meeting.

The most recent formal action on the underlying incident, as described in the meeting, is the sheriff’s referral to the GBI; the transcript does not record a commission vote on the Malone proposal during the work session.

What’s next: Commissioners said they will review the submitted resolution and consider discussions with the sheriff and other city officials; any formal recommendation or directive from the commission was not recorded during the work session.