Sheriff sued over race inequality: Officers do jobs ‘fairly’

Tucker

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

Tucker
Tucker

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A white Mississippi sheriff who is being sued over allegations that his department violates African-Americans’ constitutional rights says he and his deputies do their jobs “fairly and diligently.”

Madison County Sheriff Randy Tucker issued a statement Thursday, three days after the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi sued him and his department on behalf of black residents of the majority-white county, which is a suburb of Jackson.

The lawsuit by the civil rights group claims that officers are unfairly targeting black people for traffic stops and searches of homes and property without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.

Tucker says his deputies are professional law enforcement officers who take appropriate action when a law is broken, “regardless of the race” of the person involved.

This story has been corrected to show the sheriff said “fairly and diligently,” not “fairly and vigorously.”

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