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Questions raised over hiring of convicted police officer

8 years 7 months 3 days ago Tuesday, August 25 2015 Aug 25, 2015 August 25, 2015 5:43 PM August 25, 2015 in News
Source: WBRZ

WHITE CASTLE- Questions are being raised tonight after a convicted law enforcement officer in Port Allen managed to get hired in White Castle.

Jasmione Clark just started on the force with White Castle Police. He has convictions tied to excessive force against citizens. Court records show he also violated his probation.

Those familiar with Clark believe he should have never been hired.

"This guy should never have a badge, commission or any affiliation in law enforcement whatsoever," Colonel Richie Johnson said. "If there's an agency willing to hire him, someone needs to look at that agency."

Clark was arrested on battery and malfesance charges tied to issues he had with citizens while he was on duty. The charges were eventually reduced to simple battery charges where Clark pled no contest. In one instance, court records show Clark put a citizen in a choke hold, and the citizens' blood vessels popped.

"I would have to guess no background check was done because an agency wouldn't want to touch him with a ten foot pole with the history of excessive force complaints," Johnson said.

Those complaints led the City of Port Allen to settle two lawsuits filed against Clark in federal court. Tonight, residents in White Castle are demanding answers from town leaders over who is enforcing laws in their town.

"They hiring anybody, and it's not fair for the citizens," Young said.

"White Castle better get a good attorney because they are going to have problems," Johnson said.

Numerous calls to Police Chief Mario Brown were not returned. We even left messages with his office. The Mayor of White Castle said he was tending to a family matter and couldn't talk about this and quickly got off the phone.

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