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US finds
racist,
profit-driven
practices
in
Ferguson
By JIM
SALTER
and ERIC
TUCKER
Associated
Press
ST.
LOUIS -
A
federal
investigation
into the
police
killing
of an
unarmed,
black
18-year-old
in
Ferguson,
Missouri,
lays
bare
what
officials
contend
are
racist,
profit-driven
law
enforcement
practices
in the
small
St.
Louis
suburb.
While
the
Department
of
Justice
cleared
Officer
Darren
Wilson
of
federal
civil
rights
charges
in the
August
death of
Michael
Brown,
it also
called
for
sweeping
changes
in a
city
where
officers
trade
racist
emails,
issue
tickets
mostly
to black
drivers
that
generate
millions
of
dollars
in
revenue,
and
routinely
use what
investigators
called
excessive
force on
people
stopped
for
minor or
non-existent
offenses.
Attorney
General
Eric
Holder
said
Wednesday
that the
department
"found a
community
that was
deeply
polarized;
a
community
where
deep
distrust
and
hostility
often
characterized
interactions
between
police
and area
residents."
Ferguson
Mayor
James
Knowles
III said
steps
are
already
being
taken to
correct
problems.
"We must
do
better
not only
as a
city,
but as a
state
and a
country,"
Knowles
said.
The
shooting
of Brown
sparked
a
national
dialogue
on race
and law
enforcement.
Separate
federal
investigations
into the
shooting
and the
police
department
began
soon
after
Brown
was
killed.
In
pairing
the
announcements
on the
investigations'
results,
the
Obama
administration
sought
to
offset
community
disappointment
over the
conclusion
that the
shooting
was
legally
justified
with a
message
of hope
for
Ferguson's
majority-black
citizens.
Officials
announced
26
recommendations,
including
training
officers
in how
to
de-escalate
confrontations
and
banning
the use
of
ticketing
and
arrest
quotas.
Wilson
was
cleared
in
November
by a
state
grand
jury, a
decision
that set
off
protests,
looting
and
fires.
The
federal
report
concurred
that
there
was no
evidence
to
disprove
Wilson's
testimony
that he
feared
for his
safety.
Nor were
there
reliable
witness
accounts
to
establish
that
Brown
had his
hands up
in
surrender
when he
was
shot,
Justice
Department
lawyers
said.
An
attorney
for
Wilson,
Neil
Bruntrager,
described
the
officer
as "very
happy"
with the
outcome.
Ben
Crump,
the
attorney
for
Brown's
parents,
said the
family
was
"extremely
disappointed.
This
underscores
the need
for
change
and
reform
when
there is
continued
use of
excessive
deadly
force on
people
of color
by
police
officers."
While
the
federal
government
declined
to
prosecute
Wilson,
it
raised
grave
concerns
about
the
operation
of
Ferguson's
police
department
and
municipal
court.
Though
about
two-thirds
of the
city's
21,000
residents
are
black,
only
four of
54
commissioned
officers
are
African-American.
That
lack of
diversity
undermined
community
trust,
the
Justice
Department's
report
on the
city
said. It
also
found
that the
city
relied
heavily
on fines
for
petty
offenses,
such as
jaywalking,
to raise
revenue.
Holder
said the
city
collected
more
than
$1.3
million
in fines
and
court
fees in
2010,
but more
$3
million
is
projected
for the
current
fiscal
year.
"Our
review
of the
evidence,
and our
conversations
with
police
officers,
have
shown
that
significant
pressure
is
brought
to bear
on law
enforcement
personnel
to
deliver
on these
revenue
increases,"
Holder
said.
He cited
a 2007
case
where a
woman
received
two
parking
tickets
costing
$152.
Because
of court
fees and
other
expenses,
she has
paid
$550 so
far,
spent
six days
in jail,
and
still
owes
$541.
Another
woman,
Tiffany
Tunstall,
34, told
The
Associated
Press
that she
received
"threatening"
letters
for
nearly
two
years
after
paying
off
traffic
tickets
through
an
installment
plan.
"I
didn't
want to
have
anything
to do
with the
city I
was
raised
in," she
said. "I
felt
disrespected."
Activist
John
Gaskin
III, a
member
of the
national
NAACP
board of
directors,
said
lines
outside
of
municipal
court
are
often
long.
"You'd
think
were
buying
tickets
to a
Beyoncé
concert,"
Gaskin
said.
"The
common
theme
is:
Everyone
there is
African-American."
Federal
investigators
found
many
other
examples
of
discrimination.
A lawful
protest
was
broken
up with
a police
warning
of
"everybody
here's
going to
jail."
And a
black
man
sitting
in a car
with
tinted
windows
was
accused
without
cause of
being a
pedophile
by an
officer
who
pointed
a gun at
his
head.
Between
2012 and
2014,
black
drivers
were
more
than
twice as
likely
as
others
to be
searched
during
routine
traffic
stops,
but 26
percent
less
likely
to be
carrying
contraband.
The
report
also
included
seven
racially
tinged
emails
that did
not
result
in
punishment.
The
writer
of one
2008
email
stated
that
President
Barack
Obama
would
not be
in
office
for long
because
"what
black
man
holds a
steady
job for
four
years."
Knowles
said
three
employees
were
responsible
for
those
emails.
One was
fired
Wednesday,
and the
other
two are
on
administrative
leave
pending
an
investigation,
he said.
He did
not take
questions,
and
Police
Chief
Tom
Jackson
was not
at the
news
conference
where
the
mayor
spoke.
The
report's
recommendations,
if
accepted
by city
officials,
could
lead to
an
overhaul
of basic
practices
by
police
officers
and
court
officials.
Those
include
improving
officer
supervision,
better
recruiting,
hiring
and
promotion
and new
mechanisms
for
responding
to
misconduct
complaints.
Federal
officials
described
Ferguson
leaders
as
cooperative
and open
to
change
and said
there
were
already
signs of
improvement.
The
city,
for
example,
no
longer
issues
failure-to-appear
warrants,
has
eliminated
a fee
for
towing
cars and
rescinded
warrants
for
nearly
600
defendants.
Under
Holder,
the
Justice
Department
has
investigated
roughly
20
police
departments
over
alleged
civil
rights
violations.
Some
have led
to the
appointment
of
independent
monitors
and have
been
resolved
with
agreements
in which
police
commit
to major
changes.
"It's
quite
evident
that
change
is
coming
down the
pike.
This is
encouraging,"
Gaskin
said.
"It's so
unfortunate
that
Michael
Brown
had to
be
killed.
But in
spite of
that, I
feel
justice
is
coming."
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