Fire Chief Shot By Police Officers In Courtroom

[Sionnach Glic]

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.

What the fuck is up with the US police? I'm not just talking about this incident in particular, but in general. Why does there seem to be a disproportionate amount of incidents coming from the US where police shoot suspects (or innocents, as in this case) with no real need?

[Mark]

Well, you give a piss poorly trained, trigger happy dipshit, who grew up on cop shows a gun and there ya go!

[Aaron]

Looks like the city council and the cops had a nice little scam going.

[Teaos]

7 cops for 150ish people? 1:20 police force...? Really?

[Mikey]

7 cops for 150ish people? 1:20 police force...? Really?

Yeah, that's insane. Also, the US Secret Service uses the incredible man-stopping power of the .357SIG... and Homer and Jethro here are issued a .40 as their standard sidearm?

[Tsukiyumi]

I was wondering the same thing, Mikey.

[Mikey]

I was wondering the same thing, Mikey.

Obviously, the regular duties of the police in a 174-person town include putting holes in the engine blocks of Freightliners.

[Deepcrush]

What the f**k is up with the US police? I'm not just talking about this incident in particular, but in general. Why does there seem to be a disproportionate amount of incidents coming from the US where police shoot suspects (or innocents, as in this case) with no real need?

First, you have to remember there is no such thing as US police. Second, I don't think its just the US. In the US, everything gets reported unlike most other countries. So you hear more bad then good. What no one points out is the officer who died last year pulling a woman from a burning car. Another one killed while stopping a drug runner. Everyone hears the stuff about these bad deals and plants it like its the whole police force.

[Mikey]

Excellent point. Bad news sells papers. Nobody hears about the the cops who go around doing their jobs in an ethical way. I'd be willing to bet the ratio of good cops to bad is amazingly high.

[Aaron]

Yeah, that's insane. Also, the US Secret Service uses the incredible man-stopping power of the .357SIG... and Homer and Jethro here are issued a .40 as their standard sidearm?

Not necessarily. Lots of US police forces require or allow their officers to purchase their own sidearm, provided it's in an approved calibre.

[Lazar]

What the f**k is up with the US police? I'm not just talking about this incident in particular, but in general. Why does there seem to be a disproportionate amount of incidents coming from the US where police shoot suspects (or innocents, as in this case) with no real need?

Part of the problem is the overuse of paramilitary SWAT teams - not only for drug raids, but sometimes for things as comparatively petty as illegal gambling charges. I've read many horror stories about innocent people, and their dogs, being shot in those situations.

[sunnyside]

Yeah, that's insane. Also, the US Secret Service uses the incredible man-stopping power of the .357SIG... and Homer and Jethro here are issued a .40 as their standard sidearm?

We don't even know if these cops were on duty at the time. It's quite possible that was simply his concealed firearm. While there are more powerful cartridges getting put into smaller guns they're still working on geting a 50AE to comfortably fit in your pants pocket.

As for..uh...whatever-he's-calling-himself-now's question I think Deepcrush's point and Mikey's comment that bad news sells covers the lions share of it. The Irish apparently get the scoop when a cop in a US backwater town shoots a guy in the ass, wheras many Americans probably aren't exactly sure where Ireland is, much less what their police force is doing.

Or more worrying stuff like those Russian cops executing a reporter a year or so ago doesn't make much of a ripple either, and if the Brit police are still smacking around the Irish we don't hear about it.

Anyway I'm not so sure even compared to other western nations if our cops are any worse. Might be, but I'd be suspicious.

Geography now, there we have a problem...

[IanKennedy]

This could never happen in the UK, quite simply our police do not carry guns. OK, there are some armed response units, however, these carry their guns locked in the boot until they're needed. There are also armed units in Airports these days. However, no traffic cop would ever have a gun.

[Captain Seafort]

This could never happen in the UK, quite simply our police do not carry guns. OK, there are some armed response units, however, these carry their guns locked in the boot until they're needed.

And when they are needed they're about as reliable as the US Air Force. Between Brazilian electricians and Forest Gate, I simply don't trust plods with guns - if they need real firepower, phone Hereford and get professional help.

There are also armed units in Airports these days.

Airport police have always been armed. The difference is that prior to 9/11 only one member of a patrol pair would have an MP5 - the other would be unarmed or have a handgun. These days they've both got MP5s, and there are more of them.

[Tyyr]

The police force isn't that unusual. There are two small towns here in Florida located on highways. When the roads get to the town the speed limit suddenly drops significantly, something like 15 to 20 miles an hour. They set the signs in bad locations, around curves, in merging zones, just behind vegetation. In other words they make it as difficult as they legally can to see the signs. The towns support themselves off of the speeding tickets they write and the cops are AGGRESSIVE about it. Both towns have large police forces compared to their sizes and most of their jobs consist of just sitting inside those speed limit signs writing tickets all day. It relies largely on tourists who don't know about those bastards.