Federal Agency Finds Merit in Discrimination Claim

Governor Haley Barbour wants more information before the state takes any action

A federal agency is requesting some changes at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, to combat allegations of racial discrimination in areas like hiring, testing and promotion. MPB’s Stephen Koranda reports.

The Mississippi NAACP filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging racial discrimination against anonymous black state troopers. Representative Billy Broomfield of Moss Point is part of a group of legislators that investigated the allegations. He says testing for promotion was one area where he believes a bias was shown. Broomfield says troopers who otherwise scored well would have their scores reduced because of the oral portion of an exam.

“I can say you failed an oral test any time I’m ready .That doesn’t’ necessarily imply that you did.”

The EEOC says the allegations are valid. They recommend changes in training and monitoring in DPS, and payments totaling more than 1.5 million dollars to affected troopers. Derek Johnson is president of Mississippi NAACP.

“This is a course of last resort, when internal remedies have not worked. In this case they did not work, therefore we pursued this course.”

There is no requirement for DPS to accept the recommendations. DPS Commissioner Stephen Simpson said in a statement the allegations aren’t specific enough to take action without further investigation. Governor Haley Barbour agrees.

“Nobody’s ever c come forward. Nobody’s ever said 'it’s me, here’s how I got discriminated against, here‘s who discriminated against me.' It’s just this vague idea. You’ve got to have more information than that to do anything in government.”

Around 200 of the states more than 600 state troopers are African American.