http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_re_us/us_shot_in_court

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" JERICHO, Ark. – It was just too much, having to return to court twice on the same day to contest yet another traffic ticket, and Fire Chief Don Payne didn't hesitate to tell the judge what he thought of the police and their speed traps. The response from cops? They shot him. Right there in court. Payne ended up in the hospital, but his shooting last week brought to a boil simmering tensions between residents of this tiny former cotton city and their police force. Drivers quickly learn to slow to a crawl along the gravel roads and the two-lane highway that run through Jericho, but they say sometimes that isn't enough to fend off the city ticketing machine. "You can't even get them to answer a call because normally they're writing tickets," said Thomas Martin, chief investigator for the Crittenden County Sheriff's Department. "They're not providing a service to the citizens." Now the police chief has disbanded his force "until things calm down," a judge has voided all outstanding police-issued citations and sheriff's deputies are asking where all the money from the tickets went. With 174 residents, the city can keep seven police officers on its rolls but missed payments on police and fire department vehicles and saw its last business close its doors a few weeks ago. "You can't even buy a loaf of bread, but we've got seven police officers," said former resident Larry Harris, who left town because he said the police harassment became unbearable. Sheriff's deputies patrolled Jericho until the 1990s, when the city received grant money to start its own police force, Martin said. Police often camped out in the department's two cruisers along the highway that runs through town, waiting for drivers who failed to slow down when they reached the 45 mph zone ringing Jericho. Residents say the ticketing got out of hand. "When I first moved out here, they wrote me a ticket for going 58 mph in my driveway," 75-year-old retiree Albert Beebe said. The frequent ticketing apparently led to the vandalization of the cruisers, and the department took to parking the cars overnight at the sheriff's department eight miles away. It was anger over traffic tickets that brought Payne to city hall last week, said his lawyer, Randy Fishman. After Payne failed 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. Doctors in Memphis, Tenn., removed a .40-caliber bullet from Payne's hip bone, Martin said. Another officer suffered a grazing wound to his finger from the bullet. Martin declined to name the officer who shot Payne. It's unclear if the officer has been disciplined. Prosecutor Lindsey Fairley said Thursday that he didn't plan to file any felony charges against the officer or Payne. Fairley, reached at his home, said Payne could face a misdemeanor charge stemming from the scuffle, but that would be up to the city's judge. He said he didn't remember the name of the officer who fired the shot. Payne remains in good condition at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. He referred questions to his lawyer. "I know that he was unarmed and I know he was shot," Fishman said. "None of that sounds too good for the city to me." After the shooting, Martin said police chief Willie Frazier told the sheriff's department he was disbanding the police force "until things calm down." The sheriff's department has been patrolling the town in the meantime. A call to a city hall number listed as Frazier's went to a fax machine. Frazier did not respond to a written request for comment sent to his office. Alexander, the judge, has voided all the tickets written by the department both inside the city and others written outside of its jurisdiction — citations that the department apparently had no power to write. Alexander, who works as a lawyer in West Memphis, resigned as Jericho's judge in the aftermath of the shooting, Fairley said. She did not return calls for comment. Meanwhile, sheriff's deputies want to know where the money from the traffic fines went. Martin said that it appeared the $150 tickets weren't enough to protect the city's finances. Sheriff's deputies once had to repossess one of the town's police cruisers for failure to pay on a lease, and the state Forestry Commission recently repossessed one of the city's fire trucks because of nonpayment. City hall has been shuttered since the shooting, and any records of how the money was spent are apparently locked inside. No one answered when a reporter knocked on the door on Tuesday. Mayor Helen Adams declined to speak about the shooting when approached outside her home, saying she had just returned from a doctor's appointment and couldn't talk. "We'll get with you after all this comes through," Adams said Tuesday before shutting the door. A white Ford Crown Victoria sat in her driveway with "public property" license plates. A sales brochure advertising police equipment sat in the back seat of the car."

Ridiculous. And what's he going to be charged with, improperly avoiding a police officer's bullet?

9/4/2009 8:55:09 AM

Q: which officer shot the man?

A: um... i used to know, but now i don't remember.





[Edited on September 4, 2009 at 10:50 AM. Reason : ]

9/4/2009 10:44:43 AM

The sad thing is this is closer to the norm in small towns than it is some aberration.

9/4/2009 10:50:03 AM

it ain't a small town thing. it's that region.

I lived in Memphis Tenn for about a year, not too far from the area in question, and I've got to say that North Carolina rednecks are some real scholars compared to those Arkansas hillbillies.

srsly, people out there are dumb as dirt.

9/4/2009 10:53:31 AM

Morrisville has been on a kick lately. I got two bullshit charges in a week. In court one got thrown out, and one got reduced to a minor infraction.

9/4/2009 11:04:57 AM

Just curious, define "bullshit charges".

9/4/2009 1:06:30 PM

Jesus Christ! It's rare that I read something in Soap Box that just makes my jaw drop.

I mean, fuck, man. And I thought the cops around Ramseur were bad.

9/4/2009 3:11:54 PM

I thought the cop who killed the preacher after jumping out of an escalade in plain clothes was bad

9/4/2009 6:11:03 PM

I usually try to give cops the benefit of the doubt on most issues, but this shit sounds out of control.


I didnt know you lived in memphis joe. I was there 4 yrs and couldnt wait to put it in my rearview. So areas I really liked, but i had to go to school and work a clinic in midtown...not ideal.

9/4/2009 6:51:42 PM

Quote :

"The sad thing is this is closer to the norm in small towns than it is some aberration."

Yeah, just last week three firefighters and an EMT were shot by cops across Alabama.

9/4/2009 8:17:11 PM

That is, what, 7 police officers for 174 people? One police officer for every 25 people?

Interesting fact: the city's police department was started when they were given a grant from state and federal governments... Might it have been stimulus spending at one time or another? Maybe Homeland Security dollars?

[Edited on September 4, 2009 at 8:52 PM. Reason : .,.]

9/4/2009 8:50:52 PM

^ I doubt it was Homeland Security money.

Quote :

"Sheriff's deputies patrolled Jericho until the 1990s, when the city received grant money to start its own police force, Martin said."

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"I usually try to give cops the benefit of the doubt on most issues"

Statements like this always bother me, although such sentiment isn't uncommon (see message_topic.aspx?topic=574887 for a similar example). Police actions should not be inscrutable and, in fact, should always be assayed regardless of how trivial or minor.

9/5/2009 12:59:17 PM