Casey Wiggins, the Greenwood law enforcement trainee who pulled his gun twice while detaining Greenwood High School student James Marshall on Dec. 6, 2006, has enrolled in the police academy at Mississippi Delta Community College.
“He’s getting prepared to go to the academy and get his training underway,” Greenwood Police Chief Henry Harris said in a telephone interview.
At the time of Marshall’s arrest, Wiggins had not completed officer training, which according to state regulations barred him from “the authority to use force, bear arms, make arrests or exercise any of the powers of a peace officer unless under the direct control and supervision of a law enforcement officer.”
Video footage showed that Wiggins was unaccompanied by other officers.
Wiggins will begin a 10-week course in April, and the City of Greenwood will reimburse the $2,700 fee. The trainee faces criminal charges and a $2 million lawsuit from Marshall’s attorney, Carlos Moore.
However, Harris said that the training “was already scheduled; the lawsuit had nothing to do with it.”
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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.