Police in small Mississippi city discriminate against Black residents, Justice Department finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Police in a majority Black Mississippi city discriminate against Black people, use excessive force and retaliate against people who criticize them, the Justice Department said Thursday in a scathing report detailing findings of an investigation into civil rights abuses.

The Lexington Police Department has a “persistent pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct,” according to the Justice Department, which launched an investigation following accusations that officers used excessive force and arrested people without justification.

“Today’s findings show that the Lexington Police Department abandoned its sacred position of trust in the community by routinely violating the constitutional rights of those it was sworn to protect,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an emailed statement.

The Justice Department said the police department “has created a system where officers can relentlessly violate the law” through a combination of “poor leadership, retaliation and a complete lack of internal accountability,”

Investigators found that officers used Tasers like a “cattle-prod” to punish people, in case shocking a Black man 18 times until he was covered in his own vomit and unable to speak, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke told reporters.

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

The investigation also found that police impose fines at “nearly every available opportunity,” often for minor violations, said Todd Gee, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. They unlawfully arrest and hold people behind bars until they can come up with the money they owe, he said.