Years after turmoil within the Lexington Police Department and allegations surfaced of discriminatory policing practices, excessive force and retaliation against critics, the city has adopted federally recommended reforms and has ousted its police chief. 

“These victories demonstrate the power of lawful protest and civic engagement, and they show that our methods are effective. We thank the community for standing together to demand change, and we commend the aldermen for finally heeding the community’s voice,” attorney Jill Collen Jefferson, founder of the legal organization JULIAN, said in a statement. 

JULIAN filed the first lawsuit against the city and police department in 2022 that is scheduled for oral argument before the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals next week. Other lawsuits have alleged retaliatory use of force and unlawful detention by the Lexington police. 

The U.S. Department of Justice opened a pattern and practice investigation into the Lexington police in 2023, and less than a year later it released its investigation report detailing the department’s violations of the First, Fourth and 14th Amendments. The DOJ found Lexington police jailed people for unpaid fines without determining whether people could afford to pay, resulting in a “two-tiered system of justice.”

Lexington, located at the edge of the Delta, is majority Black and 30% of the population is in poverty, according to U.S. Census estimates. 

To remedy the constitutional violations, the Justice Department made several recommendations for the city to adopt, which include ensuring that officers who make stops, searches and arrests are authorized to use force with clear direction, have sufficient training and supervision and improve record-keeping to hold officers accountable for inappropriate or unlawful conduct.

The recommendations address issues related to leadership, policing, compliance, accountability and community trust, according to JULIAN. 

In December, Alderman Isaac Lindsey introduced a motion for the city to implement the recommendations, but that came up a vote short, with Mayor Percy Washington and two aldermen forming the majority, according to the legal organization. 

In response to the board’s failure to take action, JULIAN called for a citywide boycott of Lexington’s primary stores, Dollar General and Sunflower. 

JULIAN considers the boycott a success because on Jan. 6, Lindsey reintroduced his motion and the board approved it. Before the vote, several supporters called for the board to implement the DOJ recommendations and put the decision into writing.

“It’s that simple,” said meeting attendee Benita Streeter. “Just put it on there, make a motion, sign off on it, say it in writing so the people will know.” 

Another change came the same week when the board called a special meeting and dismissed its police chief, Charles Henderson, an action JULIAN has called for. In his place, former chief Robert Kirklin was appointed as interim leader until the board chooses a new, permanent chief. 

The Board of Aldermen did not provide a reason for Henderson’s departure. But a Jan. 9 letter from the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Standards and Training Special Investigations Unit said Henderson’s law enforcement certification was suspended effective immediately, meaning he is not permitted to hold a law enforcement, emergency telecommunicator or jail detention position. 

“This decision is due to Charles Henderson’s record of conduct or actions that violate the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and significantly diminish public trust in the competence and reliability of a law enforcement officer,” the letter states. 

Such violations of the code of ethics can result in reprimand, suspension under conditions, recall or cancellation of law enforcement certification, the letter states. 

The referenced violation didn’t take place in Lexington, but in Jackson on Nov. 15, 2024, when Henderson worked for the Jackson Police Department. 

Henderson could not be reached for comment Monday. 

A spokesperson from JULIAN did not have details about the Jackson incident. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety was not immediately able to comment Monday due to winter storm-related office closures. 

Policing in Lexington has been the subject of scrutiny since 2022 when a recording was leaked of then Police Chief Sam Dobbins using racial and homophobic slurs when talking about using force while on the job, including the killing of 13 people. A former Lexington officer had made the recording.

“I shot that n—– 119 times, ok?” said Dobbins, who is white, about the shooting of one person. 

The story made national news, and in July 2022, the aldermen voted 3-2 to terminate Dobbins, which community members celebrated. Former mayor Robin McCrory, who is white, and some aldermen called Dobbins’ statements “locker room talk.” In his place, they appointed Henderson, Dobbins’ second in command, as chief. 

Lexington residents, JULIAN and other advocates continued to attend aldermen meetings and demonstrate against actions of the police department under Henderson, who is Black. 

Jefferson is among those whom Lexington police arrested. She was jailed in 2023 while filming a traffic stop from her car on a public street and spent a weekend in the county facility. A week earlier, Jefferson spoke with Justice Department officials, who visited the city. 

In February 2024, Jefferson was convicted of misdemeanor charges, but days later a Holmes County Justice Court judge rescinded the convictions. 

This is the second time the Civil Rights Division has taken action in Lexington, the Justice Department wrote in its report.  

In 1963, a group of Black residents, now known as the “First Fourteen,” tried to register to vote at the courthouse and were met by the sheriff, other government officials and police. When asked who in the group would be first, Hartman Turnbow said he would die to vote. A group of white men firebombed his home, and Turnbow was falsely arrested and charged with the arson of his home. With DOJ intervention, the county later dropped the charges against him.