Pearl, Mississippi, pop. 27,115 (photo below), is a suburb of Jackson, the state capital.
It’s in Rankin County, where 6 former sheriff’s deputies were sent to prison in March 2024 for torturing black men (see that story here).
Michael Christian Green (photo, left), 26, a Pearl city cop for about 6 months, came to that job with baggage. He had an unspecified “history” at other police departments. Now, he’s also going to prison, for torturing a Hispanic man.
The unidentified man was arrested on December 23, 2023, at a Sam’s Club for “causing a disturbance.” Placed in a holding cell, he told Green he needed to pee, but was ignored. So he relieved himself in a corner.
Enraged, Green entered the cell, ordered the prisoner on his hands and knees, and forced him to lick up and swallow the urine, recording with a cellphone as he did so (read story here).
Four days later, Green resigned from the police department. He was charged with a federal misdemeanor, pleaded guilty in March 2024, and was sentenced to a year in prison on June 13, 2024 (details here). He’ll probably do his time at a “country club” minimum-security facility.
Will Green be a cop again? Seems unlikely, but he won’t have a felony record, so it can’t be ruled out. Who’d hire someone like him? Well, the Pearl police did, despite his “history.”
Many small police departments hire troubled cops, because of staffing shortages and recruiting difficulty, and because they don’t have to spend money on training and these hires are work-ready.
Coincidentally, Pearl’s police chief resigned 3 weeks after Green’s arrest (see story here), not because of that, but for “timesheet discrepancies” while on the county payroll at the same time (see story here).
