Resident Brings Lawsuit Against Bastrop, Louisiana, Police

A Bastrop, La., resident has filed a lawsuit against the Bastrop Police Department accusing it of failing to adequately perform its duties in his neighborhood.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney Jack Wright Jr. for resident James Murphy against the city of Bastrop and the Bastrop Police Department for failing to establish police patrols, investigate crimes and issue citations in the McFee neighborhood, according to the suit.

“He had just tried everything possible to get some protection where he lives,” Wright said. “He went to the mayor, the chief of police, the local paper and legislators with no avail. He just needs some police protection.”

Attached to the lawsuit are tables and graphs displaying the number of times Murphy and the other members of the McFee Neighborhood Watch Group have called into the police department to file a complaint and how many times a citation was issued.

The data that Murphy compiled, which spans the past 15 years, indicates that citations were not issued for about 93 percent of the group’s 168 calls for assistance.

The lawsuit lists a set of requests for the police department, which include issuing citations for violations, enforcing local noise laws, adding “No Parking” signs in the neighborhood and enforcing neighborhood police patrols according to a detailed schedule as defined in the suit.

According to the lawsuit, Murphy made several attempts to remedy the situation, including documenting “numerous auto tags of vehicles making unnecessary noise as they drove by with their boom boxes” and offering to pay for additional policing in his neighborhood.

The News-Star reports Bastrop Police Chief Downey Black declined to comment because of the pending litigation.

Information from: The News-Star