In a new report, an ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice concluded that the Ferguson, Mo. police department and the city’s municipal court engaged in a “pattern and practice” of discrimination against African-Americans throughout the city, targeting them disproportionately for traffic stops, use of force, and jail sentences.
The probe is the result of a DOJ investigation ordered by Attorney General Eric Holder, following the controversial shooting case of Michael Brown by a white police officer last August.
The 105-page report, available to the public, found stunning findings on the black-white population and interactions with police in Ferguson from 2012 to 2014. For instance, 85 percent of people subject to vehicle stops by police were black; 90 percent of those who received citations were black; and 93 percent of people arrested were black. In addition, 67 percent of the Ferguson population is black.
“Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the City’s focus on revenue rather than by public safety needs. This emphasis on revenue has compromised the institutional character of Ferguson’s police department, contributing to a pattern of unconstitutional policing, and has also shaped its municipal court, leading to procedures that raise due process concerns and inflict unnecessary harm on members of the Ferguson community,” the report’s summary reads.
The findings accuse Ferguson’s police and municipal court of “reflecting and exacerbating existing racial bias,” including racial stereotypes, and acting upon these disparities with “discriminatory intent.”
“Over time, Ferguson’s police and municipal court practices have sown deep mistrust between parts of the community and the police department, undermining law enforcement legitimacy among African Americans in particular.”
An important factor among the findings were that 88 percent of the cases Ferguson police reported using force was against African-Americans. The minority group was reported twice as likely to be searched during traffic stops and cited for minor infractions (such as jaywalking and “failure to comply” charges), but also 26 percent less likely to be found in possession of contraband. In addition, African-Americans were 68 percent less likely to have their cases dismissed by a Ferguson municipal judge.
Evidence of racist jokes being sent around by police and court officials was also revealed, including an email from 2008 that read that President Obama “won’t likely be President for long, because what black man holds a steady job for four years.”
Following the DOJ’s report, the department is expected to pursue a court-supervised consent decree requiring the city to make immediate changes to its police and courts.
Police chief, city manager resigns
Ferguson City Manager John Shaw resigned on March 10, shortly after the DOJ’s scathing report was released. Shaw had been interviewed, named, and heavily criticized by the report.
“Over the last several months I have done everything in my power to work with countless groups to bring about positive change and strengthen our community,” Shaw wrote in his resignation letter. “While I certainly respect the work that the DOJ recently performed in their investigation and report on the City of Ferguson, I must state clearly that my office has never instructed the police department to target African Americans, nor falsify charges to administer fines, nor heap abuses on the backs of the poor. Any inferences of that kind from the report are simply false.”
Shaw’s resignation was announced the same day the Ferguson council voted 7-0 on a mutual separation agreement.
The embattled, worn-out chief of the Ferguson police department has also resigned as part of a similar mutual separation agreement between him and the city, council officials announced on Wednesday, March 11.
Chief Tom Jackson’s resignation, effective next Thursday, is the latest leadership shakeup in the St. Louis suburb, following the boiling federal investigation into its police department and court system.
As part of the agreement, Jackson will receive a severance payment and health insurance for one year, though it was not clear how much he will receive.
Jackson, who oversaw the city’s police department for nearly five years, had previously resisted calls by protestors and top elected leaders to step down over his handling of the Brown shooting last year, as well as the weeks of rowdy, sometimes-violent protests that followed.
Jackson told reporters he felt that it was time for the city to move on.
“I believe this is the appropriate thing to do at this time,” he said. “This city needs to move forward without any distractions.”
The police chief’s resignation was welcomed by state lawmakers representing Ferguson.
Lt. Col. Al Eickoff will serve as acting chief as Ferguson officials will begin a “nationwide search” for a new police leader, the city said in a statement.
The announcement also comes a week after the DOJ’s report about widespread targeting of blacks throughout the city, and a day after the city manager also stepped down amid allegations of racial bias in the municipal court.
Jackson becomes the sixth employee to resign or be fired after the DOJ’s report clearing Officer Darren Wilson of civil rights charges in the Brown shooting, but found a profit-driven court system and widespread racial bias in the city police department.
(With reports from Fox News, CNN)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(OCIE March 13-19, 2015 Sec. A pg.3)
