Jackson, Mississippi Hit with Class Action Over ‘Ticket Arrest Tow’ Roadblock Initiative

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A proposed class action has been filed over the Jackson, Mississippi police department’s use of a set of roadblock procedures, dubbed “Ticket Arrest Tow,” that are allegedly found disproportionately in majority-Black and low-income neighborhoods. 

The 12-page lawsuit says that citizens in these areas who have done nothing wrong are routinely stopped and delayed while going about their business as a result of Jackson’s belief that the “Ticket Arrest Tow” (TAT) initiative is an effective method of crime control. The suit alleges the city’s roadblock and checkpoint procedures at issue are unconstitutional and violate Jackson citizens’ rights to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures. 

The lawsuit argues that by routinely stopping individuals in certain neighborhoods for ostensible crime control purposes without any reason to believe they have committed crimes, Jackson’s TAT initiative treats them as “wanted suspects” as they drive to and from school or work or for other legitimate reasons. As the case tells it, some residents have taken to driving out of their way to circumvent roadblocked streets and avoid delay as they go about their personal business. 

“Just as the police cannot walk into every home to search for evidence of a crime or stop and delay every citizen walking down the street to pat them down for drugs or illegal weapons or check their drivers [sic] licenses to see if they are wanted for a crime, they cannot do the same with every motorist on the public roads,” the complaint scathes. “If they could, they might make more arrests for criminal activity, but our security in our homes and our freedom to go about our business in public would be very restricted.” 

Under the TAT program, Jackson police offers are directed to give tickets to all drivers who do not have a license or current insurance and to order that their cars be towed, the case says. In many instances, drivers are also arrested and taken by police to be photographed and fingerprinted so that their mugshots and prints can be used in the search for criminals, the lawsuit alleges. 

Per the complaint, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba confirmed the “unconstitutional purpose” of the police department’s use of the TAT roadblocks when he described the measures at a press conference as crime-control “tools.” 

The suit argues, however, that the Jackson TAT roadblocks have “unconstitutionally interrupted and prevented the movement of thousands of people as they go about their lives, often for significant periods of time.” 

The five plaintiffs look to represent all individuals who have encountered or likely will encounter roadblocks established by the Jackson Police Department for purposes of general crime control. 

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