Friday, Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson held a press conference saying his employees are free to talk to U.S. Department of Justice investigators.
The DOJ is looking into allegations the sheriff's department is practicing discriminatory policing practices and unconstitutional search and seizures against Latinos in Alamance County.
Thursday, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in a federal district court. Alamance County, the sheriff's department and Sheriff Terry Johnson were named in the suit. The agency wants a judge to rule its investigators are able to interview employees without the sheriff's office attorney being present.
Federal investigators claim Sheriff Johnson's staff is scared to talk to them for fear of retaliation. The Alamance County Sheriff's Department released a statement. It states the department strongly disputes the allegations lodged against it by the U.S. Department of Justice. It says the office has fully complied with all requests for documents from the DOJ, has never attempted to forbid any personnel from speaking with the DOJ either with or without the presence of a lawyer of their choice and has offered to schedule interviews between the DOJ and the Sheriff's Office personnel.
But the DOJ declined the offers. It continues to say the department has a right to be present during the questioning of deputies since deputies can bind the Sheriff through their acts or omissions. The U.S. Department of Justice began this investigation in 2010.
