If Ferguson dissolves police department, who would step in?

After the investigations, the DOJ drafted a proposal aimed at reforming the law enforcement and court systems of the city.

Defiance has often defined Ferguson in the 18 months since a police officer fatally shot Michael Brown and provoked an examination of how poor people and minorities are treated in the St. Louis suburb. The DOJ alleges black citizens were unfairly targeted.

The lawsuit says the Ferguson court system “routinely” fails to provide residents who have received citations or summons with “adequate notice of the allegations made against them” or any “meaningful opportunity to be heard”. They have waited almost a year for their municipal courts to commit to basic, reasonable rules and standards. “But as our report made clear, the residents of Ferguson have suffered the deprivation of their constitutional rights – the rights guaranteed to all Americans – for decades”. “They should not be forced to wait any longer”.

Lynch said the agreement the department reached with the city in January was meant to avoid litigation and reach a court-enforceable agreement that would allow constitutional policing and municipal practices. The Justice Department’s lawsuit against the Ferguson Police Department shows a commitment to taking police reforms seriously. It is unclear if the Department of Justice will agree to the modifications.

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) – As Ferguson prepares to do legal battle with the Justice Department, the city’s leaders have acknowledged the possibility that they might someday disband the police department and cede law enforcement to another agency.

Four tiny municipalities near Ferguson – Vinita Park, Vinita Terrace, Wellston and Charlack – formed into one police department last summer, known as the North County Police Cooperative.

“I would rather lose our city by fighting for it in court, than lose it by giving in to the DOJ’s crushing demands”, said Susan Ankenbrand, who moved to Ferguson 41 years ago, partly because she wanted to live in a diverse community. He left before the vote.

Among the attempted changes was a statement that the terms of the agreement would not apply if another agency takes over duties now provided by Ferguson, such as policing. Of all incidents from 2010 to August 2014, African Americans account for 88 percent of all incidents in which a Ferguson police officer reported using force.

Lynch said the council knowingly voted against an agreement approved by the city’s own negotiators.

“We intend to aggressively prosecute this case and I have no doubt that we will prevail”, Lynch said on Wednesday. It’s, ‘Let’s talk about the provision.

The success of the Black Lives Matter movement has helped bring the issue into the national political conversation.

“In my mind, there’s no chance the DOJ will not file a lawsuit“, said Webb at a public hearing on Saturday.

Harris also raised the prospect that by inviting the lawsuit Ferguson may be gambling that within a year a new administration in the White House may be more sympathetic to the city’s plight. A recent analysis placed the cost of the reforms detailed in the agreement at about $4 million, per Vice News. With a budget of $25 million, the city is now operating at $6 million deficit.

Nixon said the court-ordered agreements take away the flexibility to solve problems quickly.

“If they (Ferguson) go to court, they will lose, ” University of Pittsburgh law professor David Harris said.

FOURTH AMENDMENT – “The right of the people to be secure in their persons” and free from “unreasonable searches and seizures”, including excessive force. In some cases, defendants have not been told that the Ferguson officer testifying in the case against them “was previously found to be untruthful during an official [Ferguson police] investigation”, according to the lawsuit.

The two parties negotiated for months.

The high costs associated with the plan come in large part from increases to police salaries. An assessment by Ferguson officials estimated that reforms could cost as much as $3.7 million in the first year alone, with the deal to remain in place for at least five years.

But police maintained the officer shot in self-defense after Brown reached through the squad vehicle window and tried to grab his gun, prompting a struggle.

The attempt to remove the so-called “poison pill” clause, was either foolish or deceitful, he said.

The council met for an hour before the meeting Tuesday night in closed session. Some believed the decree would bankrupt Ferguson, forcing it to dissolve.

The council also voted unanimously to appoint Laverne Mitchom, a black, to a council seat vacated when Councilman Brian Fletcher, a former Ferguson mayor, died of a heart attack.

He said: “It serves no one’s goal for us to fail”.