U.S. Dept. of Justice coming to VP to hear people’s concerns

The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice is coming to Ville Platte to hear the concerns of the community.
The U.S. DOJ is continuing their investigation into the Ville Platte Police Department and the Evangeline Parish Sheriff’s Office. According to a statement released by the Justice Department, the investigation into these two law enforcement agencies began back in April of 2015 after allegations were made that the VPPD and the EPSO were using “investigative holds” to detain individuals without proper cause.
Investigative holds can be the time that a person is being held while more investigations are being done concerning a crime. These holds must be done with proper cause however.
The U.S. DOJ is also investigating “the adequacy of VPPD and EPSO’s training, supervision and accountability mechanisms to prevent unlawful seizures.”
The U.S. Justice Department is using their investigation to hopefully uncover whether or not officers at these two police departments were in fact using investigative holds in a way that violates the Constitution and federal law.
According to Arthur Sampson “the United States Justice Department will be coming to the area to here the concerns of the people in this community.”
The meeting has been set for September 28, 2015 at the St. John Baptist Church in Ville Platte beginning at 7:00 p.m.
If anyone has information about this investigation that they would like to share prior to the September 28th meeting, the DOJ ask that you contact the U.S. Department of Justice at Community.VillePlatte@usdoj.com.