Article Author:
Associated Press
Michael Goldberg
Ms. Jackson, Miss (AP) — Police are "bringing black residents of a small town in Mississippi to false arrests, excessive violence, and intimidation." It terrified me." , according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by a civil rights group.
The organization said JULIAN took temporary action against the Lexington Police Department to demand protection for the city's predominantly black population. I am seeking an injunction. Lexington is about 100 kilometers (63 miles) north of the capital, Jackson.
"It is unconscionable and illegal for Lexington residents to live in fear of a police station whose job it is to protect them after being attacked." said Jill Colin Jefferson, president and founder of JULIAN. "Both the court and the Justice Department need to intervene immediately."
The town's city attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Henderson questioned many of the allegations in response to an email request for comment from The Associated Press.
"I am working on the Lexington Police Department moving forward," Henderson said. rice field. "I do not agree with everything you have heard. This is defamation." It came after he said he had obtained audio recordings talking about the number of people he had killed in the line of duty using hateful slurs. News outlets and legislators said they knew both the former and interim chiefs, who said Dobbins was white and Henderson was black.
According to the Mississippi Investigative Reporting Center, which first reported on the recording, Dobbins denied making any defamation. AP could not find Dobbins' contact information for him.
Robert Lee Hooker, a black police officer who later resigned from the police department, told Julian and later to his AP that he taped.
Willie March, the sheriff of the county in which Lexington is located, told his Associated Press that he had worked with Dobbins for about two years and had "suspected" that Dobbins was the person recorded. There is no room," he said.
Lexington City Council members voted 3 to 2 to oust Dobbins just days after the recording came to light. Henderson was appointed interim chief.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages and asks Lexington to establish an independent private complaints review board to investigate public complaints against the police for abuse of power. asking the court to demand
"The Lexington Police Department operates in a culture of corruption and lawlessness, routinely and habitually violating black citizens' constitutional rights. and subject them to atrocities, including targeting, harassment and violence.” suit.
About 80% of Lexington's population of 1,602 is black, according to the US Census Bureau. The lawsuit calls Lexington a "small, deeply isolated town," one of her poorest counties in the country.
In the recording, Dobbins states that in his career he has killed 13 people and repeatedly uses expletives to describe people. At one point he uses the n-word when referring to someone who said he shot 119 times. allegedly made false arrests, used excessive force, and conducted unjustified searches and seizures. Over the past year or so, more than 200 black citizens have filed formal or informal complaints about being harassed, arrested, or fined for no good reason, Julian said.
Allegations from within the division were also cited in the lawsuit. One officer reported seeing Dobbins kick a handcuffed suspect in the head. , the complaint states.
The lawsuit also alleges that police retaliated against members of the black community who spoke out at meetings to discuss grievances with the department.
Although most of the incident occurred while Dobbins was chief, plaintiffs said interim chief Henderson was similarly unfit to lead the army. assaulted a tow truck driver called to rob Peter Reeves' car, and Henderson arrested him, accusing him of not having auto insurance and putting illegal window tint on his car.
Jerry Farmer, a 70-year-old tow truck driver, told the AP that Henderson smashed Reeves' car twice. He was immediately taken back to the Reeves' home.
Reeves said that from his vantage point sitting in the back of the police car, he could see Henderson suffocating Farmer by pushing him into the car.
He said, ``I mean, this one is tripping him. I saw it with my own eyes.''
The lawsuit also alleges that residents had to pay excessive fines. Reeves' mother, Sherri Reeves, told the AP on Monday that she ended up paying a fine of more than $600.
"We are a poor county and she is one of the poorest counties in the country. These exorbitant fines creep up on people," she said.
——
Michael Goldberg is a member of the Associated Press/Reports for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover hidden issues. Follow him on his Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.