Justice Department Finds Mississippi Police Department Violates Rights Of Black Residents

The police department in a majority-Black town in Mississippi has consistently violated the rights of residents with illegal arrests, as well as by retaliating against department critics, according to a Department of Justice report released Thursday.

The Justice Department launched an investigation into the police department in Lexington last year after several complaints from local attorneys and activists became publicized, as did an audio recording of the town’s former police chief, Sam Dobbins, bragging about shooting a Black man 119 times.

“I shot that ni**er 119 times, OK?” Dobbins was heard saying in the recording, where he also claimed he had killed 13 people while on duty.

The police department “unlawfully” discriminates against Black people, United States Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said during a press conference. Lexington, which is about an hour from the capital of Jackson, has a population of approximately 1,200 inhabitants; 76% of that is Black people. The DOJ investigation that just concluded was the second on the town since 1963, in which the town was previously found liable for intimidating Black people to vote.

“Black people bear the brunt of the Lexington Police Department’s illegal conduct,” Clarke said.

Clarke (and the DOJ report) also noted that Black people were disproportionately targeted for arrests and that officers did not treat white residents the same way. She said that “98% of people arrested for traffic offenses were Black.”

On the day the investigation was launched, Lexington officers chased down a man and stunned him with a Taser until he foamed at the mouth, according to the report. Police had arrested him multiple times for minor incidents over previous months, and the report noted officers had kept him in jail because he could not afford the fines.

“Especially for a person in poverty, these fines are no small thing,” Clarke said. “In America, being poor is not a crime. But in Lexington, their practices punish people for poverty. We cannot stand for the criminalization of poverty in this county.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.