New Ferguson civil rights probe
September 4, 2014
The United States Justice Department is expected to announce on Thursday that it will launch a civil rights investigation into the practices of the Ferguson, Missouri police department in the wake of the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, the Washington Post reported, citing federal law enforcement sources.
The probe will investigate stops and arrests made by the department as well as use of force, in order to ascertain if there has been a pattern of racial bias and discrimination against minorities.
Michael Brown, who was unarmed, was shot and killed on 9 August by police officer Darren Wilson, after a dispute arose when Wilson told Brown and his friend to move off the street. The shooting sparked two weeks of protests and unrest in Ferguson, in which demonstrators clashed - sometimes violently - with the town's police.
The investigation is separate and broader than an ongoing civil rights probe into officer Wilson's shooting of 18-year-old Brown, and will look into the historical practices of the police department as a whole. Ferguson's police force is overwhelmingly white although the town itself is 70 percent black.
The report of the expanded investigation was welcomed by community leaders in Ferguson. "Because of the Michael Brown situation, I have been getting other emails and phone calls and tweets about other individuals who have allegations of police brutality," Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal told the Washington Post.
"The expansion of an investigation is by all means a great thing. I absolutely welcome this," Chappelle-Nadal said.
The Justice Department has the power to investigate whether law enforcement authorities are committing violations. Certain investigations end with agreements to make changes and improve department conduct.
In the last 5 years, United States Attorney General Eric Holder has initiated more than twice as many investigations into police practices in various US cities than were opened in the preceding 5 years.
bw/jr (AP/Reuters)