The small town of Lexington, MS, and its police department deprive people of their constitutional rights, discriminate against black people, engage in excessive force and unlawfully jail people, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday. “After an extensive review, we found that police officers in Lexington routinely make illegal arrests, use brutal and unnecessary force and punish people for their poverty,” said Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Kristen Clarke. “For too long, the Lexington Police Department has been playing by its own rules and operating with impunity —— it’s time for this to end.” Among its findings, the Justice Department said the Lexington Police Department unlawfully arrests, jails and detains people who cannot pay fines or fees, uses excessive force, conducts stops, searches and arrests without probable cause. |
