Madison County Sheriff's Office (Mississippi)
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The Madison County Sheriff's Department provides the primary law enforcement service for approximately 800 square miles (2,100 km2) of Madison County, Mississippi. The Sheriff's Department has jurisdiction county wide; however, the municipalities of Canton, Flora, Madison and Ridgeland have concurrent jurisdiction within their respective city limits. The patrol division provides 24-hour law enforcement services to the county.
Authority
[edit]Mississippi state law, through the Law Enforcement Board of Minimum Standards, governs the minimum level of training for certified law enforcement officers. Before assuming a sworn position, each officer must be state-certified by a certified law enforcement academy.
Controversy
[edit]The department was subject to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union alleging practices of excessive force, racial profiling, and unconstitutional practices including forcing confessions. The ALCU alleged that blacks are 5 times more likely to be stopped and arrested than whites in the county, despite having a similar population. Sheriff Tucker reportedly denied these allegations, but as of May 2017[update], the lawsuit is ongoing in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Mississippi.[1][2]
References
[edit]- ^ Mitchell, Jerry (2017-05-08). "Blacks arrested 5 times more than whites in Madison County, lawsuit says". Clarion-Ledger.
- ^ Levenson, Eric; Blackwell, Victor (13 May 2017). "ACLU sues Mississippi sheriff over alleged excessive force, racial profiling". CNN.