‘Speaks to a lack of integrity:’ JSO officer faces felony charge for official misconduct

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A patrol officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has been arrested.

Speaking at a live news conference from JSO’s Police Memorial Building Wednesday, undersheriff Pat Ivey said the officer in question is five-year veteran Dennis Hampton.

The investigation into potential misconduct began in January after the sheriff’s office received a complaint against the officer. Ivey said it was discovered that Hampton was signing up and being paid for secondary employment—side jobs that police officers can work for extra money—but not showing up.

According to JSO, Hampton was observed by investigators over the course of multiple weeks which confirmed he was not showing up for jobs, as often as multiple times a week.

Hampton is charged with one count of official misconduct, a third degree felony. Ivey said the officer chose not to resign but that the sheriff’s office will move to terminate his employment because of the felony charge.

“I think that speaks to a lack of integrity,” Ivey said. “We have a lot of jobs like this in the agency. There are tens of thousands of hours of secondary employment every year. I would say 99.9% of officers show up and do what they’re supposed to do and this officer chose not to.”

This marks the first arrest of a JSO employee this year. In 2021, ten employees were arrested. Eleven were arrested in 2020.

Last April, Alexander Grant was charged with misdemeanor battery for hitting a handcuffed person who had allegedly spat on the officer as he was detained in the back of Grant’s patrol vehicle. Later that month, 17-year JSO veteran Tamara Hardin was arrested after police said she provided confidential information to a Georgia law enforcement employee.

In July, Bionca Williams, a 7-year veteran of JSO, was arrested for reportedly discussing active investigations with an inmate by gathering information from a law enforcement database.

In December, Kenneth G. Clifton was arrested after police said left the scene of an accident that resulted in injury, a third-degree felony.

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