Louisiana Still Has Some of the Most Corrupt Policing Practices
This publication has been hammering the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office for some time. That doesn’t mean we are against law enforcement. It means that we expect a high level of professionalism from people who have so much power over others. Power can corrupt. We, as citizens of Bexar County, have to make sure that our law enforcement agencies know we are watching them. We will not let them break the law or even take shortcuts. There are too many examples out there of what happens when you don’t keep a tight reign on law enforcement.
For a long time the police in Louisiana have had corrupt police and corrupt policing practices. It’s a problem they have not been able to get a handle on yet. ProPublica wrote a long article on the abuses that have been occurring in Ville Platte, Louisiana. The article talks about people being picked up and threatened for information. If the person didn’t have information they were put in a cell and were threatened that they wouldn’t get out until they told the detectives something. The Ville Platte jail doesn’t have beds, bathrooms or running water. People kept there over night have to sleep on a metal bench or on the floor.
The story that caught our eye was Officer Jessica LaBorde taking 12 year old Bobby Lewis into custody. Bobby was with some friends, one of which threw a rock through a window. LaBorde didn’t know who had thrown the rock. She took Bobby into custody and proceeded to interrogate him using abusive language and without an attorney or parent present. LaBorde didn’t even bother contacting Bobby’s mother, another officer eventually did that. Bobby’s mother informed the police that they were not to speak to Bobby until she got there. Her instructions were ignored.
LaBorde’s interrogation included calling 12 year old Bobby a bastard and a mother fucker. She also threatened to throw his mother in jail and even said she would have his dog taken away from him. These actions are so far outside the law that this woman should not have a job anymore but they are common place in Ville Platte. The Justice Department under the Obama administration began efforts to clean up the abuses in Ville Platte but Jeff Sessions, under Trump brought that to a halt and the people of Ville Platte, Louisiana continue to suffer.