AP
JACKSON, MS (AP) – The Mississippi Highway Patrol has continued unfair practices since a racial discrimination complaint was filed on behalf of black state troopers, and the agency’s chief should be removed or have his authority curtailed, a state NAACP leader said Wednesday.
Derrick Johnson, president of the Mississippi Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, alleged that the law enforcement agency has stopped posting open positions. Instead, the jobs “are being advertised by word of mouth or over the patrol radio cars,” Johnson said Wednesday during a news conference. He said the action has limited the ability of black troopers to even know about the open positions.
Johnson also said that Col. Michael Berthay, who has command of the troopers, “should be removed or his authority limited.” Johnson said Berthay “sets the tone of the department.”
A spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Highway Patrol, said DPS Commissioner Steve Simpson couldn’t be reached for comment.
Johnson said the NAACP filed the complaint on behalf of about 200 black state troopers with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in January, but the allegations of racial slurs, a hostile work environment and denied promotions date back three years. He said his organization filed the grievance on behalf of the troopers so they wouldn’t encounter retaliation.
Simpson has appointed an independent three-member panel to investigate the discrimination allegations. The panel was to make a report to lawmakers on Thursday. Sen. David Jordan, who chairs a legislative committee that investigates state agencies, said the situation needs to be resolved quickly and outside of the courtroom.
“These men have got to cover each others’ backs,” Jordan, D-Greenwood, said Wednesday, adding that he hopes no lawsuit is filed in the case.
According to Johnson, the Mississippi Highway Patrol was forced to racially integrate after a lawsuit by black law enforcement officers in the 1970s, and the patrol remained under a federal consent decree until early this decade. The decree was designed to eliminate discriminatory practices in hiring, firing and promotions.
Simpson has said the Mississippi Highway Patrol has 608 troopers – 387 who are white men and 208 who are black men. There are six white women and three black women. Two troopers are Hispanic and two are Asian.
Allen Lyles, president of the Mississippi State Troopers Association, said he’s hopeful the law enforcement agency can withstand the controversy.
“Of course it hurts to have any unfounded allegations made against an organization that takes its mission so seriously,” Lyles said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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