TENAHA, Texas (KTRE) -
"Shakedown lawsuit," "Highway robbery." An "addiction
to asset forfeitures."
They've all been used to describe the alleged racial profiling in East Texas
making national news.
Law enforcement in the Shelby County town of Tenaha are accused of forcing African
Americans to forfeit cash or go to jail.
A legal step to settlement was filed in federal court in the four-year old
civil lawsuit.
Under the agreement, an impartial policing policy must be adopted.
A mural proudly
illustrates Tenaha's connections to the rest of the world.
Highway 59 is the link to
good and bad.
Plaintiff's attorney Tim Garrigan
led the effort to stop alleged racial profiling on motorists passing through
the East Texas town.
"No longer can these
corrupted officials just stop who they want, shake them down and then make up a
story later for their report," Garrigan said.
The goal is complete
documentation and monitoring of traffic
stops. A third party will make sure it's happening.
"There's a chance
that this will be used as a sort of a template for correcting this kind of
problem where ever it might crop up," Garrigan said.
The mayor, district
attorney, investigator, city marshal and constable named in the suit have
retired or resigned, but they'll be required to join the city and county in
paying off planitiff's legal fees of $520,000.
"That's why we're
settling," said County Judge Rick Campbell. "The cost would have been four
times as much for what we're settling for.
It's a business decision there, but the other thing is it would drag all
this stuff out again."
It's an unfavorable image which residents want
to go away. After all, they're publicized as "good folks."
"I think it will be better from now on," said
Francis Fallin, a resident in Tenaha. "I think it will fix whatever was wrong
and do right from now on.">
"I think it will
clear everything up once everything is settled and die back down," said
Keontaqs Davis, a Tenaha High School student.
The story isn't going
away. Garrigan is representing several plaintiffs in individual civil lawsuits and
the federal criminal investigation into wrongdoing continues.
The documents filed Friday
indicating a settlement still must be approved by a federal judge.
One of the measures agreed
to is any money collected through future asset forfeitures can only be used for
audio and video equipment, law enforcement training or donated to certain kinds
of non-profits.
Copyright 2012 KTRE. All rights reserved.
Tim Garrigan
