The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a scathing report against the city of Lexington and its police department following an investigation into jailing and fine processes undertaken in the central Mississippi town.
It was discovered by authorities that the city, with a population of just 1,200 people, and its main law enforcement agency engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprived people of their rights under the U.S. Constitution and federal law.
Specifically, the Justice Department finds that the Lexington Police Department unlawfully:
- Arrests, jails, and detains people who cannot pay fines or fees, without assessing their ability to pay
- Uses excessive force
- Conducts stops, searches, and arrests without probable cause, including jailing people on illegal “investigative holds” and arresting people solely because they owe outstanding fines
- Imposes money bail without justification or assessment of ability to pay
- Jails people without prompt access to court
- Violates the rights of people engaged in free speech and expression, including by retaliating against people who criticize the police
- Discriminates against Black people
- Operates under an unconstitutional conflict of interest because LPD’s funding depends on the money it raises through its enforcement
“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,” a statement from U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland reads.
“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. Additionally, Lexington’s approach to fines and fees — including unlawfully arresting, jailing, and detaining people based on their failure to pay money without assessing if they can afford to do so — has been devastating for its residents. Being poor is not a crime, but practices like these amount to punishing people for poverty. People in that community deserve better, and the Justice Department is committed to working with them, the City, and the Police Department to make the City safer for all its citizens.”
Based on the Justice Department’s investigation, over the past two years, LPD has made nearly one arrest for every four people in town, primarily for low-level offenses and traffic violations. That is more than 10 times the per capita arrest rate for Mississippi as a whole. Many of these arrests were for non-criminal conduct, like owing outstanding fines and using profanity. Most of those arrested are Black. In 2023, Black people were 17.6 times more likely to be arrested by LPD than white people were, per the report.
When making low-level arrests, LPD uses 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. 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. On the same day the Justice Department opened the investigation, LPD officers chased a man accused of disturbing a business and tased him nine times.
LPD’s enforcement strategy has put hundreds of people in debt to the police department. In a town with a small population, the total sum of outstanding fines owed to LPD is more than $1.7 million.
The department also found that LPD lacks any meaningful accountability system and that people experiencing poverty who are accused of crimes in Lexington regularly lack access to counsel, both of which allow LPD’s misconduct to continue unchecked.
The Justice Department opened its investigation last November. Career attorneys and staff in the Civil Rights Division’s Special Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi conducted the investigation.
The team was assisted in this investigation by experts in law enforcement practices. The team conducted an extensive review of LPD’s records, including hundreds of arrest reports and municipal court records and hundreds of hours of body-worn camera footage. The team also interviewed city and LPD leadership, accompanied officers on ride-alongs, observed the Lexington Municipal Court, and met with dozens of community members.
In February, while the investigation was ongoing, the department issued a letter to the City of Lexington raising significant concerns regarding their practice of jailing people for unpaid fines without first assessing whether they can afford to pay them. The city and LPD cooperated fully with the investigation and have committed to working with federal authorities to address the violations identified in the department’s findings.
“Lexington is a small, rural community but its police department has had a heavy hand in people’s lives, wreaking havoc through the use of excessive force, racially discriminatory policing, retaliation, and more. In every corner of our country, police officers must respect people’s constitutional rights and treat people with dignity,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said.
“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 — including by jailing people who cannot afford to pay fines or money bail. 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. Our findings report furthers the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring fairness and the rule of law.”
The department will be conducting outreach to members of the Lexington community for input on remedies to address the department’s findings. Individuals may submit recommendations here.
