Forty traffic tickets have been expunged because it's highly likely the officer who gave them was targeting Hispanic drivers.

In a statement on Thursday, Carver County Attorney Mark Metz and Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight said the tickets have been removed from public record.

It's the result of an investigating that found there was a high likelihood that former Chaska officer Josh Lawrenz "conducted traffic stops of certain drivers based on their Hispanic race."

Lawrenz was fired by the department in 2015, with an arbitrator upholding his dismissal at a hearing in 2016, saying he had "engaged in racial profiling ... of his own volition."

Chief Knight said that his officers "remain rigorous in enforcing the law," but added "he will not tolerate discriminatory enforcement of law based on sex, race, age, creed, religion, color or national origin."

As well as dismissing active citations issued while Lawrenz was under investigation, authorities have removed old convictions from before it emerged he was profiling drivers.

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