Video: Lafayette County Officials Dispute Claims of “60 Minutes” Story

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OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI) – Oxford and Lafayette County officials are speaking out about a 60 Minutes report critical of the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics unit.
That unit is made up of Lafayette County, Oxford and University officers. City officials say the segment, which mentioned the local unit along with others in other university towns, left the impression students were intentionally targeted and forced to become confidential informants. No one denies students have been used as informants in Oxford but say the contention that officers force them to make a certain number of undercover transactions in order to have charges dismissed are misleading.

“They made a reference on there that we actively seek young people we do no actively seek we investigate and where our investigation takes us we look and in that time there is a lot of ways you handle the informant process if you catch someone that is selling or someone that has an amount on them you have a choice to lock them up if it is a felony amount or give them the opportunity to become an informant.”

The 60 Minutes piece comes after other national outlets have questioned the unit. The former head has stepped away from the position and is now a member of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department. An independent third party is also reviewing the units operating policies and will make recommendations on any changes that should be made including the way informants are recruited. 60 Minutes airs Sunday nights on WCBI.