On Wednesday, white Mississippi police chief Sam Dobbins was fired after a recording leaked where he boasted about killing 13 people as a law enforcement official. He constantly used the n-word on the tape. He also used the epithet to describe a Black person who he claimed to have shot at least 119 times.
The 16-minute tape, which was uncovered by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, was recorded by a Black officer who resigned named Robert Lee Hooker. He left the Lexington Police Department last week due to it being a toxic work environment.
On the recording, which was acquired by The Washington Post, Dobbins tells Hooker about all of the people he killed when he worked as an officer.
“I’ve killed 13 men in my career, justified,” Dobbins can be heard saying. “In my line of duty, I have shot and killed 13 different people.” He also said he “saved 67 kids in a school” by shooting a Black man more than 100 times.
“I shot that [n-word] 119 times, okay?” Dobbins said to Hooker. “The vehicle was shot 319 times, but he was hit 119 times by me.” Lexington has a population 1,600 people, with 80 percent being Black. The board of aldermen voted 3-2 Wednesday to get rid of Dobbins.
Of course, Dobbins tried to weasel his way out of it by telling the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting that he had no knowledge of the recording and that referring to the people cops have killed is “something we don’t discuss, period.” He also said he never used racist slurs: “I don’t talk like that,” Dobbins claimed.
Hooker said on Wednesday that he came forward because he could not let Dobbins’s alleged behavior continue.
“I just got to the point where you’re not doing the people right, you’re not doing right, so therefore let me expose you for what you are, who you are,” Hooker said. “And that’s how it happened.” Until a permanent replacement is found, investigator Charles Henderson is currently serving as the interim chief in Lexington.
How many times does it need to be reiterated that policing is just modern day slave patrol?