索菲·贝茨·杰克逊，密西西比州 — 美国司法部周五宣布，已达成一项和解协议，迫使密西西比州一座城市及其警察部门进行改革。司法部认为该警察部门歧视黑人、使用过度武力并对批评者进行报复。
SOPHIE BATES JACKSON, Miss. — The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday it reached a settlement forcing reforms in a Mississippi city and its police department, which the DOJ found discriminated against Black people, used excessive force and retaliated against critics.
该和解协议是在司法部于2024年发布的一份尖锐报告之后达成的。报告称，位于州首府以北约65英里（100公里）的农村、贫困、以黑人为多数的城市列克星敦的警察部门， routinely（经常性地）侵犯公民的民权。报告指出，警察以逮捕黑人为目标，为低级别违法行为逮捕人员以给警察部门创收，且若人们无力支付罚款，则会被长时间关押。
The settlement comes after a scathing 2024 DOJ report said the Lexington Police Department routinely violated citizens’ civil rights in the rural, poor, majority-Black city located about 65 miles (100 kilometers) north of the state’s capital. Police targeted Black people for arrests, made arrests for low-level offenses to generate money for the police department and locked people up for extended periods of time if they could not afford to pay fines, according to the report.
庭外和解协议要求列克星敦市及其警察部门在多个问题上改革做法 — — 从罚款和保释到停靠、搜查和使用武力 — — 并使其符合州和联邦法律。
The out-of-court settlement requires the City of Lexington and its police department to reform practices on a number of issues — from fines and bail to stops, searches and use of force — and bring them into compliance with state and federal law.
美联社曾致电并发送电子邮件给市政府和警察部门官员，但未能立即获得回复。
The Associated Press called and emailed city and police department officials but did not immediately receive responses.
该协议禁止列克星敦警察在未先评估个人是否有能力支付罚款的情况下，继续因未缴罚款而监禁人员 — — 这一做法违反了第十四修正案。2024年的报告发现，市法院曾为超过650人发出逮捕令，原因是未缴罚款，这一人数大约占该市总人口的一半。
The agreement bars the Lexington police from continuing to jail people for unpaid fines without first assessing whether they can afford to pay them, a practice that violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The 2024 report found the city court had issued arrest warrants for more than 650 people, roughly half of the city’s population, for unpaid fines.
列克星敦市及其警察部门还必须撤销所有因未缴罚款和费用而违法发出的现有逮捕令，并着手删除所有因非法罚款导致的定罪记录。
The city and the Lexington Police Department must also dismiss all existing warrants for unpaid fines and fees that violate the law and move to expunge the records of all unlawful fine-based convictions.
此外，该市和列克星敦警察局被禁止为拦截、警告、发出传票、逮捕或相关收入创建和实施配额或激励制度。司法部此前发现，2022年至2024年间，列克星敦警察局每逮捕四名镇上居民就有一人，这一人均逮捕率是密西西比州的10倍多。
Additionally, the city and the Lexington Police Department are barred from creating and implementing a quota or incentive system for stops, warnings, citations, arrests or related revenue. The DOJ previously found that between 2022 and 2024, the Lexington Police Department made one arrest for every four people in town, more than 10 times the per-capita arrest rate for the state of Mississippi.
该部门还将接受司法部批准的关于拦截、搜查、逮捕和使用武力的培训，并实施文档记录和审查系统，以确保此类行动合法。
The department will also require DOJ-approved trainings on stops, searches, arrests and use of force, in addition to implementing documentation and review systems to ensure such actions are lawful.
“通过这些改革，我们不仅希望解决调查中发现的问题，还希望增强公众信任，促进尊重每个人权利和尊严的做法，”密西西比州南区美国检察官J.E.巴克斯特·克鲁格在一份新闻稿中表示。
“Through these reforms, we seek not only to address the concerns identified in our investigation, but also to strengthen public trust and promote practices that respect the rights and dignity of every person,” U.S. Attorney J.E. Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi said in a news release.
司法部表示，将与该市和警方合作，“确保他们纠正所谓的违规行为”。协议期限为三年，但根据各方是否共同认定该市和警察局已达到合规标准，协议可能会提前结束或延长。
The DOJ said it would work with the city and police to “ensure that they remedy the alleged violations.”The agreement lasts for three years, but could be cut short or extended depending on whether the parties mutually determine the city and police department have reached compliance.
司法部于2023年启动对列克星敦警察局的调查，此前有市民指控警员利用路障针对黑人司机、使用过度武力、实施性侵犯以及无理由逮捕他人等行为。
The DOJ launched a probe into the Lexington Police Department in 2023, after citizens accused officers of using roadblocks to target Black drivers, engaging in excessive force, committing sexual assault and arresting people without justification, among other claims.