OCEAN SPRINGS, MS (GC WIRE) — The City of Ocean Springs and the state’s Department of Public Safety have both confirmed two individuals who issued hundreds, possibly thousands, of criminal citations were not police officers, yet the complaints they issued stated they were in fact sworn officers of the law.
The citations were issued as part of the Securix program, where cameras placed throughout Ocean Springs identified vehicles operating without insurance. Images from those cameras were then supposed to be presented to law enforcement officers, who would then verify the information with the Mississippi Law Enforcement database. If the officers verified the infraction, they would then cite the owner with a misdemeanor crime.
Ocean Springs issued over 10,000 of these citations before shutting the program down, but many of those citations were issued by two individuals who were not actual police officers, despite citations labeling them as officers and even including badge numbers.
No Records Exist
A public records request was made to the Department of Public Safety (DPS) asking about the law enforcement status of Michael Ducote and Vincent Spiriti, the two individuals who signed many of the misdemeanor citations.
Specifically, DPS was asked to identify any commissions or appointment records to a law enforcement agency for the two individuals between the years 2021 and 2023. Amy Vanderford, Director of the Office of Standards and Training for DPS responded to both inquiries saying they had “no appointment records.”
A separate public records request was sent to the City of Ocean Springs, asking records custodians to identify:
“Any oath of office executed by Michael Ducote or Vincent Spiriti in connection with service as a law enforcement officer, reserve officer, auxiliary officer, or other sworn position with the Ocean Springs Police Department from January 1, 2021 through May 31, 2023.”
The request further asked city officials to produce:
“Any personnel records or HR action forms documenting their hiring, rehire, appointment, or commissioning by the Ocean Springs Police Department between January 1, 2021 and May 31, 2023.”
The Ocean Springs City Clerk’s office responded to the requests by stating, “No responsive documents have been located in response to your request.”
Tickets Claimed They Were Cops
The citations mailed to motorists in Ocean Springs were not ambiguous. A sample ticket acquired by GC Wire, issued by the city on January 9, 2022, stated:
“BEING THE AFFIANT HEREIN AND DULY SWORN UPON OATH I DO DEPOSE AND SAY… I HAVE PERSONALLY CONFIRMED AS A DULY SWORN OFFICER AND BASED ON MY INSPECTION OF RECORDED IMAGES AND GOVERNMENT INFORMATION I HAVE DETERMINED PROBABLE CAUSE THAT THIS VEHICLE WAS IN VIOLATION.”
The text was followed by the signature block: Affiant/Officer Last Name: Ducote Badge#: 401
A facsimile signature by Michael Ducote was also affixed.
No Officer, No Court Involvement
Citations issued by Ducote and Spiriti were followed up by letters from then-Chief of Police Mark Dunston, telling recipients they had been previously charged with a misdemeanor crime. But without an actual officer filing the complaint or municipal court record, no charges existed.
Ocean Springs attorneys had previously admitted in federal court filings that nearly all of the citations issued in the Securix program bypassed the municipal court. Of the 10,481 tickets mailed, only 23 of them had an associated court record. Mississippi law requires all Uniform Traffic Tickets to be filed though the agency’s associated municipal or justice court system.
Despite no law enforcement officer issuing the ticket and no associated court record, the ticket and followup letter by Chief Dunston threatened “Suspension of Your License” if the recipient did not take action.
Motorists were told to pay a $300 diversion program fee to avoid adverse actions that included suspension of drivers licenses and high court fees, despite no court record existing.
A subsequent public records request asked city officials to provide any orders issued by an Ocean Springs Municipal Judge allowing such a diversion program to replace the state’s mandatory filing of Uniform Traffic Tickets. The city again responded that no such records exist.
Both Ducote and Spiriti once were Ocean Springs police officers. Both retired years before the Securix program was launched. Securix confirmed to GC Wire both were directly paid by the private corporation, not the City of Ocean Springs. The city has confirmed that arrangement.
What the Law Requires
Taken together, the records from both the City of Ocean Springs and the Mississippi Department of Public Safety leave little ambiguity: there is no documented evidence that the individuals issuing these citations were ever sworn, commissioned, or authorized as law enforcement officers during the period in question.
Mississippi law is not vague on these points.
Under Mississippi Code § 45-6-11, individuals must be properly appointed and certified to exercise law enforcement authority. Without that appointment, there is no legal basis to act under color of law as an officer.
Mississippi law also makes clear that criminal proceedings cannot exist outside the court system. Under Uniform Traffic Ticket Law (Miss. Code § 63-9-21), traffic citations are required to be filed with the appropriate court. The City has already acknowledged that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, that did not happen.
And when an individual swears under oath to facts in an official document, Mississippi law treats that representation seriously. Mississippi Code § 97-9-59 addresses false swearing in official matters, while § 97-7-10 criminalizes false statements made under oath.
The citations at issue did more than allege a violation. They explicitly stated that a “duly sworn officer” had reviewed evidence and determined probable cause—representations that, according to both DPS and the City’s own records, are not supported by any appointment, oath, or commission.
At a minimum, the situation raises significant legal questions about the validity of the citations themselves, the use of threats of license suspension without court involvement, and whether actions were taken under the appearance of official authority without lawful basis.
Those are not technicalities. They go to the core of how criminal law is supposed to work.
And based on the public records now available, those safeguards appear to have been bypassed on a massive scale.
Nothing seems to happen to the individuals that are called out…what the hell do we have to do to get justice…the ex mayor, city attorney, top cop…they are all responsible and not one thing is being done…the citizens of OS should be in an uproar….