Justice Department probe finds Mississippi police force violated residents’ civil rights

An investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) found that a police department in the majority-Black city of Lexington, Miss., discriminated against Black people and sexually harassed women, as well as engaged in a number of other violations related to free speech, excessive force usage and funding, according to a report released Thursday.

“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,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a press release.

“The Justice Department’s investigation uncovered that Lexington police officers have engaged in a pattern or practice of discriminating against the city’s Black residents, used excessive force, and retaliated against those who criticize them,” Garland added.

The DOJ opened the investigation in November 2023.

The DOJ report notes that the city and the Lexington Police Department (LPD) have “cooperated fully with the investigation.”

“The City and LPD have committed to working cooperatively with the department to address the violations identified in the department’s findings,” the report said.

In the report, the DOJ said LPD officers sexually harassed women. It said these reports not only came from the women who said they experienced it, but also from people — including four current and former LPD officers — who claimed they witnessed it. The DOJ called the accounts of assault “credible and consistent.”

The DOJ report states that all the women who were interviewed were Black.

“Just as LPD officers flout constitutional limits with their conduct, they cross professional boundaries in other ways as well — particularly when interacting with women,” the full report said.

“Four current and former LPD officers also reported that they had directly witnessed officers sexually harassing women while in uniform. The accounts of the sexual harassment were credible and consistent,” the DOJ report said.

The DOJ announced in the press release that the LPD and the city of Lexington “engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives people of their rights under the U.S. Constitution and federal law.”

Among the types of conduct listed, the DOJ said it found that the police department “conducts stops, searches and arrests without probable cause.” It also found that the LPD retaliates against people who criticize the police force, violating individuals’ free speech and expression rights, the release noted.

The DOJ also found that the police department’s funding “operates under an unconstitutional conflict of interest,” noting its funding depends on the money it raises through enforcement.

According to the DOJ’s report, the LPD has made nearly one arrest for every four people in Lexington, which is more than 10 times the per capita arrest rate for the state. Those arrests were primarily for “low-level offenses or traffic violations,” the release noted.

Additionally, when making these low-level arrests, the report noted the police used tactics “normally reserved for serious offenses.”

“For example, LPD officers broke down a Black man’s door to arrest him for swearing at a public official,” the report said. “In another case, while attempting to arrest a man for having a tinted windshield, officers followed the man’s car to his house, forced their way into his home, and tased him for 15 seconds.”

The report also said the “LPD lacks any meaningful accountability system,” which allows the LPD’s actions to go unchecked.

The DOJ found that the LPD’s strategy has put the town of about 1,200 people in debt, owing $1.7 million to the police department.

An employee who answered the phone at the Lexington Police Department, which is in Holmes County, told The Associated Press that Chief Charles Henderson was not immediately available to comment on the report.