Police chief in Mississippi fired after recorded racist remarks

LEXINGTON, Miss. (WLBT/Gray News) - A former Lexington police chief is out of a job after the board of aldermen voted to remove him on a narrow vote.

At a special meeting Wednesday, the board voted 3-2 to oust embattled Chief Sam Dobbins, days after an expletive-laced, racist recording said to be him was made public.

The board almost immediately went into executive session, where they were for more than an hour.

Investigator Charles Henderson has been named interim chief.

Dobbins has yet to respond to WLBT’s request for comment.

Robert Lee Hooker, a former officer with Lexington, made the roughly 16-minute recording.

He said the recording is a conversation between him and Dobbins that happened back in April.

GRAPHIC WARNING: An edited copy of the recording can be heard below. Listener discretion is advised.

A man on the recording, who Hooker says is Dobbins, used numerous expletives and multiple racial epithets/derogatory terms, and bragged about shooting one suspect at least 119 times.

Hooker resigned from the department last week, citing a toxic work environment.

Lexington Mayor Robin McCrory did not want to be interviewed but said the leaked audio led to Dobbins’ termination.

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