National Roundup

Tennessee
Labor employees claim forced out because white 
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Lawsuits filed in local and federal court accuse Department of Labor and Workforce Development leaders of forcing out white employees and replacing them with black employees.
The Tennessean reports the complaints stem from the two years that Commissioner Karla Davis ran the agency.
Davis, Deputy Commissioner Alisa Malone and former Assistant Administrator Turner Nashe, resigned in March, just before an audit exposed the mismanagement of millions of dollars. The department made more than $73 million in fraudulent and improper payments, including some to people who were dead, incarcerated or working for the state, over a period of six years, according to the state audit.
In one suit filed in federal court, 27-year employee Donald Ingram claims he one of 28 white employees forced out by Davis, Malone and Nashe, all of whom are black.
Records show that in Davis’ first year, she fired 15 executives — only a few state agencies terminated more — but data on the races of those dismissed employees was not immediately available.
According to Ingram’s suit, Davis, Malone and Nashe “began decimating the Department of Labor by forcing out or firing dozens of valuable, dedicated, long-term employees.”
Labor claims Ingram was let go because he mismanaged millions of dollars had poor job performance.
A federal jury trial is scheduled for April 2014. Ingram is seeking more than $500,000, plus reinstatement and damages.
Annie Hendricks has sued the Department in Davidson County Chancery Court, claiming she was forced into a “demeaning” job reassignment and replaced by black employees with less experience. Labor has asked that the suit be dismissed. The agency says Hendricks failed to prove she was discriminated against, in part because her salary, work hours and benefits did not change.

Nevada
WWII vet suing Vegas police for excessive force
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada veteran of World War II is suing Metro Police in Las Vegas after he says they handcuffed him and slammed him to the ground in an apparent mix-up over a call to the city’s non-emergency 311 line.
George Pappas told KLAS-TV he and his wife were surprised when police knocked on their door the evening of March 18. The officers said they had been dispatched because someone called 311.
Pappas says in a lawsuit filed in federal court the officer demanded to speak to his wife but he told the officer she was too sick to see him. Pappas says that’s when he was slammed to the ground and handcuffed for no apparent reason.
Pappas was released after a few hours in custody. No charges were filed.

Missouri
Police technology demonstrates ups and downs
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — New technology being used by police in the southeast Missouri town of Cape Girardeau is being called a great crime-fighting aid. But others think it’s an invasion of privacy.
The Southeast Missourian reported that for the past seven months, Cape Girardeau police have used a patrol car with high-speed cameras attached to its roof to capture photos of nearly every passing vehicle and its license plate.
Each plate number is sent to a national database accessible only by police agencies. The system sounds an alarm if the plate belongs to someone with an active warrant or criminal history, if the car is suspected stolen or if the plate is part of a missing child investigation.
In just the last month, the automatic plate number recognition technology system has scanned more than 27,000 license plates in Cape Girardeau, a town of about 38,000 residents 100 miles south of St. Louis.
The system has led to arrests in more than 15 cases and helped identify potential suspects and witnesses in the investigation of a deadly nightclub shooting in December. Reports of thefts from businesses and gas from convenience stores have been compiled with the system, helping to identify suspects, Hickey said.
The equipment was purchased last year with a grant from the Missouri Police Chiefs Association. A few other Missouri cities are using the system.
The American Civil Liberties Union has been a vocal opponent, alleging in a lawsuit last year that the technology was allowing police to unjustly track people who did not commit crimes.

Kansas
Documents: Not strong evidence in 2012 drug raid
LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas couple who waited a year to find out why sheriff’s deputies raided their home in search of drugs said they’re relieved to finally have answers but disturbed that agents targeted their home based on what they called flimsy evidence.
The Leawood home of Robert and Adlynn Harte was one of 10 homes raided on April 20, 2012, a date celebrated by some as a marijuana holiday, The Kansas City Star.
During the raid, Robert Harte was forced to lie shirtless on the foyer floor while a deputy with an assault rifle stood over him, according to a lawsuit filed by the Hartes. Their children, a 7-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy, were home and were terrified by the raid, the couple said.
The couple wasn’t charged, and they sued for records after the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office refused to tell them why deputies raided their home. The records were released last week.
According to the records, a law enforcement officer saw Robert Harte and his two children visit a Kansas City, Mo., hydroponics store in August 2011. In March 2012, a Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant told Johnson County deputies he had a record of Harte’s vehicle being spotted at the store.
A deputy later used that visit in the affidavit seeking the search warrant, saying hydroponic equipment is commonly used to grow marijuana. The Hartes said they bought the equipment to grow indoor tomatoes.
Deputies then searched the Hartes’ trash and found about a cup of a leafy green substance they believed to be marijuana in two trash bags. The deputies conducted a field test of the material and it tested positive for marijuana.
That prompted the April raid, during which nothing incriminating was found at the home.
A lab test conducted 10 days after the raid, and another four months later, found that the leafy material was not marijuana, according to the documents.
The Hartes think the green leafy plant material was tea, which Mrs. Harte brews every day.
Lawrence L. Ferree III, a private attorney representing the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, said there would be no comment on the case because of potential litigation.