On Thursday, the Department of Justice plans to announce it will conduct a civil rights investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. NBC’s justice reporter, Pete Williams broke the story, noting the DOJ, with help from the FBI is already investigating the department’s conduct in the shooting death 18-year-old Michael Brown. They are also investigating events related to the protests that followed. During those protests, the police arrested journalists, a Holocaust survivor and others for such infractions as moving too slowly, standing or not being in a designated free speech zone. There were reports that the police threw tear gas at people who were on their own property. Who can forget the images of Ferguson police officers involved in crowd control, armed as if they were at war in Iraq?
Brown, who was unarmed was shot at least 10 times by Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson. The DOJ is conducting a similar investigation of the County police department.
Williams reports the investigation, to be announced on Thursday, is far broader because it will look at the entire department’s conduct over the past seven years.
Since 1994, the Justice Department has had the legal authority to investigate law enforcement organizations that appear to engage in a pattern of civil rights violations. While some investigations end with agreements to improve the conduct, some have resisted compliance with the recommendations. When that happens, the matter is taken to court for a Judge to decide. In cases that the court supports the DOJ’s recommendations, police departments that fail to comply will be held in contempt of court.
During the past five years, the DOJ launched 20 investigations like this one nationwide. To give you some perspective, that is twice the number of such investigations in the five years before that.
Image: CNN
Former contributor.
The Ferguson police embarrassed the good police community that is left.
Their actions were despicable. The police never learn their attempts to stop some things make those things worse
Well this shouldn’t take long. 3 warrants for every household?
im a white guy and its about goddamn time we investigate these corrupted police officials.
This does not surprise me. I read where Ferguson was cited for 33 Civil Rights violations.
There have to be more than that. The SWAT team searched a church three times looking for sleeping people!
Seriously, if SWAT is going to arrest people for falling asleep, many churches will close! Who hasn’t fallen asleep?
Silly wabbit, churches are for white people
“standing or not being in a designated free speech zone”
Designated free speech zone? If such a thing indeed exists, then you have NO free speech at all!
Yup, you can thank Dubya for that. He had designated zones at Republican gatherings for protesters. If I recall, the designated protest zone for the 2004 Republican convention was about 3 miles off site, a fenced in yard that was surrounded by cops. Yeah, he wasn’t into “listening” to the people so much.
“Williams reports the investigation, to be announced on Thursday, is far broader because it will look at the entire department’s conduct over the past seven years.”
Because that’s the statute of limitations for most felonies? They should swarm the police dept. and seize their files, just as they do with any other suspected criminal endeavor.
That was pretty much what I thought.
The shame here is that this is the only one to be investigated. What about the NY police, Durham police and the list goes on and on. These days it seems that states, local and police rights over ride “we the people” rights. None should never forget that in no uncertain way this rights crap when it comes to people of color is a re-branding of the same racist mentality behind this so called “real american ideology”. An of ideology that finds its roots behind the confederate, KKK and like types racist mindsets. This real american white privilege mentality runs very deep in many police departments across this nation. Most police department are demigods in their thinking and seems hell bend these days it seems to keep the natives in line and whites in power. Ferguson PD is a true reflection of how this mentality is willing to kill to retain their imagined color superiority. This maybe way off base but cold blooded murder of people of color by police is not these days.
Thank you Robert, saved me from using language I hardly ever use.
If you remember Freeportguy shrub started those kind of free areas, had them for the protestors who were against him. Remember when he was driving down the avenue, and people turned their backs on him?
People in the south and Pres. like Shrub don’t like it when others use their constitutional right to protest. So they use other ways and means to stop them. This then, is the sole reason for so called free speech and protest areas. I believe this alone should be reason enough to protest and be investigated.
The world is horrified at the execution of a journalist by ISIS. The world is also horrified at the execution of an unarmed teenager in an American town where he should have been safe, unlike the journalist who knew
he was in a war torn part of the world.
The hate filled rethugs are talking about investigating the teenager’s dad!!!!
They have not yet mentioned investigating the policemans mothers criminal record. Tit for tat!
if you are angry like me, channel it, get motivated, get out and vote on November 4th for democrats.
Meanwhile in Ohio…
http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/Lawrence-County-Ohio-Jail-Guards-Arrested-and-Charged-273074581.html?device=tablet
Also in August in this news station posted a article, a man commented “all liberals should be curb stomped”, I clicked on his profile, he’s a correction office in Gallia county ohio. Is it possible some of these “bad” law enforcement officials pick on liberals? Look at some of their profiles on social media, it’s quite scary.
Amen! Time to vote out every single Kochpublican from the Senate to The House to your mayor to your schoolboard members to your police chief. Kochs are buying politicians at all levels to increase their influence on federal, state and local elections in their ever increasing desire to take over American government to bolster their greed.