{"id":30944,"date":"2015-03-04T15:46:27","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T20:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?p=30944"},"modified":"2015-03-04T19:12:42","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T00:12:42","slug":"doj-investigation-the-ferguson-police-department-is-extremely-racist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/doj-investigation-the-ferguson-police-department-is-extremely-racist\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: #Ferguson Fires 1 Officer, Suspends 2, After DOJ Report -@ariemason"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Justice Department announced the findings of its two civil rights investigations related to Ferguson, Missouri, today.\u00a0 The Justice Department found that the Ferguson Police Department (FPD) engaged in a pattern or practice of conduct that violates the First, Fourth, and 14th<\/sup> Amendments of the Constitution.\u00a0 The Justice Department also announced that the evidence examined in its independent, federal investigation into the fatal shooting of Michael Brown does not support federal civil rights charges against Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.<\/p>\n \u201cAs detailed in our report, this investigation found a community that was deeply polarized, and where deep distrust and hostility often characterized interactions between police and area residents,\u201d said Attorney General Eric Holder.\u00a0 \u201cOur investigation showed that Ferguson police officers routinely violate the Fourth Amendment in stopping people without reasonable suspicion, arresting them without probable cause, and using unreasonable force against them.\u00a0 Now that our investigation has reached its conclusion, it is time for Ferguson\u2019s leaders to take immediate, wholesale and structural corrective action.\u00a0 The report we have issued and the steps we have taken are only the beginning of a necessarily resource-intensive and inclusive process to promote reconciliation, to reduce and eliminate bias, and to bridge gaps and build understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the findings in Ferguson are very serious and the list of needed changes is long, the record of the Civil Rights Division\u2019s work with police departments across the country shows that if the Ferguson Police Department truly commits to community policing, it can restore the trust it has lost,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division.\u00a0 \u201cWe look forward to working with City Officials and the many communities that make up Ferguson to develop and institute reforms that will focus the Ferguson Police Department on public safety and constitutional policing instead of revenue.\u00a0 Real community policing is possible and ensures that all people are equal before the law, and that law enforcement is seen as a part of, rather than distant from, the communities they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n Attorney General Holder first announced the comprehensive pattern or practice investigation into the Ferguson Police Department after visiting that community in August 2014, and hearing directly from residents about police practices and the lack of trust between FPD and those they are sworn to protect.\u00a0 The investigation focused on the FPD\u2019s use of force, including deadly force; stops, searches and arrests; discriminatory policing; and treatment of detainees inside Ferguson\u2019s city jail by Ferguson police officers.<\/p>\n In the course of its pattern or practice investigation, the Civil Rights Division reviewed more than 35,000 pages of police records; interviewed and met with city, police and court officials, including the FPD\u2019s chief and numerous other officers; conducted hundreds of in-person and telephone interviews, as well as participated in meetings with community members and groups; observed Ferguson Municipal Court sessions, and; analyzed FPD\u2019s data on stops, searches and arrests.\u00a0 It found that the combination of Ferguson\u2019s focus on generating revenue over public safety, along with racial bias, has a profound effect on the FPD\u2019s police and court practices, resulting in conduct that routinely violates the Constitution and federal law.\u00a0 The department also found that these patterns created a lack of trust between the FPD and significant portions of Ferguson\u2019s residents, especially African Americans.<\/p>\n The department found that the FPD has a pattern or practice of:<\/strong><\/p>\n The department found that Ferguson Municipal Court has a pattern or practice of:<\/strong><\/p>\n The department found a pattern or practice of racial bias in both the FPD and municipal court:<\/strong><\/p>\n The findings are laid out in a 100-page report that discusses the evidence and what remedies should be implemented to end the pattern or practice. The findings include two sets of recommendations, 26 in total, that the Justice Department believes are necessary to correct the unconstitutional FPD and Ferguson Municipal Court practices.\u00a0 The recommendations include: changing policing and court practices so that they are based on public safety instead of revenue; improving training and oversight; changing practices to reduce bias, and; ending an overreliance on arrest warrants as a means of collecting fines.<\/p>\n The Justice Department will require that the recommendations and other measures be part of a court-enforceable remedial process that includes involvement from community stakeholders as well as independent oversight.\u00a0 The Justice Department has provided its investigative report to the FPD and in the coming weeks, the Civil Rights Division will seek to work with the City of Ferguson and the Ferguson community to develop and reach an agreement for reform, using the recommendations in the report as the starting point.<\/p>\n The federal criminal investigation into the fatal shooting of Michael Brown sought to determine whether the evidence from the events that led to Brown\u2019s death was sufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Wilson\u2019s actions violated federal civil rights laws that make it a federal crime for someone acting with law enforcement authority to willfully violate a person\u2019s civil rights.\u00a0 As part of the investigation, federal authorities reviewed physical, ballistic, forensic, and crime scene evidence; medical reports and autopsy reports, including an independent autopsy performed by the U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Medical Examiner Service; Wilson\u2019s personnel records; audio and video recordings; internet postings, and; the transcripts from the proceedings before the St. Louis County grand jury.\u00a0 Federal investigators interviewed purported eyewitnesses and other individuals claiming to have relevant information.\u00a0 Federal prosecutors and agents re-interviewed dozens of witnesses to evaluate their accounts and obtain more detailed information.\u00a0 FBI agents independently canvassed more than 300 residences to locate and interview additional witnesses.<\/p>\n The standard of proof is the same for all criminal cases: that the defendant committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.\u00a0 However, unlike state laws, federal criminal civil rights statutes do not have the equivalent of manslaughter or a statute that makes negligence a crime.\u00a0 Federal statutes require the government to prove that Officer Wilson used unreasonable force when he shot Michael Brown and that he did so willfully, that is, he shot Brown knowing it was wrong and against the law to do so.\u00a0 After a careful and deliberative review of all of the evidence, the department has determined that the evidence does not establish that Darren Wilson violated the applicable federal criminal civil rights statute.\u00a0 The family of Michael Brown was notified earlier today of the department\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n Due to the high interest in this case, the department took the rare step of publicly releasing the closing memo in the case.\u00a0 The report details, in over 80 pages, the evidence, including evidence from witnesses, the autopsies and physical evidence from the analysis of the DNA, blood, shooting scene and ballistics.\u00a0 The report also explains the law as developed by the federal courts and applies that law to the evidence.<\/p>\n\n
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