AUGUSTA, Ga. ()- Concerns have been raised regarding the recruitment process for deputies in Richmond County after one was recently arrested and subsequently dismissed on Monday.
In previous reports, NewsChannel 6 has highlighted instances where Richmond County deputies faced dismissal and arrest.
With this latest incident marking the fifth such occurrence this year, inquiries were directed to the Sheriff’s Office about their recruitment procedures.
Former Richmond County deputy Diana Santiago is currently under investigation after being relieved from her duties following a five-year tenure with the Sheriff’s Office.
“Regrettably, she made some poor choices by sharing sensitive information with individuals who should not have received it,” stated Chief Lewis Blanchard.
Santiago faces charges including breach of oath, conspiracy related to narcotics possession, and involvement in illegal street gang activities.
“When you head down that path, it’s going to head you in the wrong direction, and that’s just something that the Sheriff isn’t going to tolerate,” Blanchard said.
That’s why we wanted to ask about the hiring process for deputies.
Santiago is now the 5th deputy in 2025 to be arrested and fired.
She joins Sean McKenzie, Addison Brown, Raneshia Price, and Montell Walton, all of which are facing a slew of similar charges.
McKenzie was arrested back in January, charged with Theft by Taking and Felony Violation of Oath of Office.
Brown was a former deputy who was arrested in February for Giving False Statements in a Government Matter and Violation of Oath of Office.
Price was fired and arrested in late March in connection to a domestic incident.
Walton was charged with Simple Battery-Family Violence following an incident that occurred in July.
Blanchard says they have cracked down on the hiring process to bring on the best officers.
“I just pulled our applicants for this month, which was 57. Twenty were able to go to level 2 in the process of 7 levels,” he said.
Each deputy goes through a lengthy process with background checks and interviews, and must pass a series of disqualifiers from traffic violations to drugs.
“There’s doctors, there’s lawyers, there’s newsmen—everybody that gets through the process no matter where they’re hired or how much of a degree they have—kernels in the army, they’ve made extremely poor decisions or broken the law. While we’ll do everything we possibly can from polygraphs, psych evaluations, no drug-use and things of that nature—at the same point in time, we’re still hiring people,” Blanchard said.
Some of those disqualifiers include no more than one DUI in a lifetime, and no more than three speeding violations in the last five years.
There’s also permanent disqualification for any history using Cocaine, Methamphetamine, and Heroin.
Blanchard says they will continue to take action whenever a deputy is out of line.
“If we were never firing anybody or never arresting anybody, then why would you trust us if we’re not policing ourselves? It’s always sad that negative news like this comes out, but at the end of the day it proves we’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to do,” he added.
We were not able to review Santiago’s record prior to her arrest.
She’s now at the Webster Detention Center, and an investigation is ongoing.
