Ferguson, feds reaches tentative police reform deal

The Justice Department issued a scathing report previous year that documented discriminatory actions by Ferguson police and the municipal court system, particularly against African-Americans.

The consent decree, announced Wednesday, requires new training for police officers, refocusing of municipal court practices and improved record-keeping.

“The City Council will accept public comments in person on Tuesday, February 2, 2016, at 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, February 6, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. and Tuesday, February 9, 2016, at 7:00 p.m. Those who have questions are urged to submit questions in writing in advance; priority will be given to responding to those questions submitted in writing in advance”. And, within 180 days, all patrol officers, patrol supervisors, jail personnel, among others, are required to wear body cameras and microphones; the department’s vehicles should be outfitted with the same equipment. The cameras are said to be promoting accountability and are to be activated for all traffic stops, arrests, searches and encounters with people believed to be experiencing a mental health crisis.

“We’re not just going to negotiate and say, ‘Boom. This is what you have to live with as a community'”.

Wilson was cleared in the shooting, but a federal investigation into the Ferguson police force found sweeping patterns of racial bias throughout the city’s criminal justice system.

The plan also includes more thorough training of police officers and changes the city’s use of force protocol.

The federal inquiry came amid heightened national scrutiny over deadly police shootings in Ferguson, Baltimore, New York and elsewhere.

Brown, a black teenager, was shot by a white Ferguson police officer in August 2014. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder even said in March that federal authorities would completely disband the city’s police department, if necessary.

“If we get to an agreement with the DOJ, the majority of the things that we agree to are not going be a surprise to anybody”, Knowles said previous year, the St. Louis Dispatch reported “People act like: ‘Oh, my God, what’s going to be in it?’…”

Require the city to create meaningful engagements between police officers and all segments of the community, with a focus on youth and apartment tenants. Brown was black and Wilson is white.

The agreement is supposed to ensure the city’s commitment to refocusing police and court practices on public safety rather than revenue generation.

The city’s statement called the deal “the best agreement that the city’s representatives were able to obtain for the citizens”.