on the Tennessee Arkansas border, next to Memphis, 3 miles from the Mississippi River, is a tiny little 5 street town.
With 7 cops, that sat on the small highway 77... and handed out speeding tickets. It's a 45 mph zone, with a 35 caution zone for curves in the road. A speed trap heaven for cops.
Where was the ticket money going? Police Dept wasn't making the payments on it's cop cars. The Fire Dept had a truck repo'd because city hall hadn't paid it's bill.
But when the fire chief went back to the courthouse to tell the judge what he thought about the 2nd speeding ticket he got that day... all 7 cops were there... and someone shot the unarmed fireman, in the back - in the hip - with a 40 cal.
It was anger over traffic tickets that brought Payne to city hall last week, said his lawyer, Randy Fishman. After failing to get a traffic ticket dismissed on Aug. 27, police gave Payne or his son another ticket that day. Payne, 39, returned to court to vent his anger to Judge Tonya Alexander, Fishman said.
It's unclear exactly what happened next, but Martin said an argument between Payne and the seven police officers who attended the hearing apparently escalated to a scuffle, ending when an officer shot Payne from behind.
Judge Alexander then voided all the tickets written by the department both inside the city and others written outside of its jurisdiction — citations that the department had no authority to write. Alexander then resigned from her position.
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/32680338/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/cop-shoots-fire-chief-ark-court-over-tickets/#.Vz3deISDGko
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jericho,_Arkansas
Just days after being released from the hospital, Don Payne was fired as fire chief. His volunteer fire dept of 20 resigned after hearing about Payne’s termination.
Prosecutors say they plan to charge former Fire Chief Don Payne with battery on a police officer. The officer who shot him faces no charges.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2349272/posts
But, as you'd expect... this isn't out of the ordinary in Arkansas... are you ready for this? Jericho was one of 3 small towns under investigation in it's county for money fraud in similar situations. The town of Jennette, also in Crittenden County and also under investigation, exemplifies the gross malfeasance at work in the area. It has a population of less than 150 and cannot account for $24,000 dollars in taxpayer funds.
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/Global/story.asp?S=11637973
Turrell Police Chief Greg Martin entered the home of city councilman Floyd Holmes and threatened him at gunpoint. Yes, the chief of police, sworn to protect and serve, pulling a gun on an unarmed councilman, and his wife, in the councilman’s own home. Why? Money. Just as in Jericho, Turrell’s mayor Franklin Lockhart is accused of hiding city funds. He even fired the city council, though he isn't legally able to do that.
An ABC news article also provided this interesting little tidbit: “This comes just two months after Mayor Lockhart asked a judge to place a lien against the members of town council in the amount of $600,000. The mayor claims council members owe the town because they haven’t performed their duties.”
https://waven.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-jericho/
https://www.facebook.com/CrittendenCountyMuseum/
To paraphrase Albert Nock’s deathless insight, government police forces don’t exist to eliminate crime, but rather to enforce a government monopoly on crime. Coleman Brackney embodies that principle with uncanny fidelity. This is to be expected of Arkansas, where there quite literally are no standards governing the qualifications and performance of police officers.
Practically any hominid who can drive a car, pull a trigger, and emit sounds that vaguely resemble the English language can be stuffed into a government-issued costume and exercise “authority” on behalf of the State of Arkansas.
A cosmetologist must complete a 2000 hour training... to cut and color hair. But a cop in Arkansas? 0 hours training.
"According to Arkansas state law, officers do not have to be certified for up to a year after they're hired," reported the Memphis Fox News affiliate in February 2010 – just a few weeks after Officer Brackney murdered James Ahern. "The Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training says they can get an 8 month extension on top of that. So for almost 2 years, an officer can patrol the streets, by his or herself, and enforce the law without having any kind of training."
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2013/03/welcome-to-sulphur-springs-when-police.html
