Ferguson asks for changes to reform deal, drawing criticism

Several of the changes are meant to reduce the cost of implementing the agreement, which some worry could bankrupt the St. Louis suburb.

A commission appointed by the governor of Missouri issued a report Monday calling for sweeping reforms that address poverty as well as policing. The deal had been reached following seven months of negotiations, but a city analysis over the past few days determined the city’s cost would be up to $3.7 million for the first year alone.

The City Council also wants the agreement to contain extended deadlines and the terms of the agreement to not apply to other governmental entities or agencies who take over services or operations that Ferguson is now providing. Wilson was later cleared by a St. Louis County grand jury and by the Justice Department. Other costs to the city of Ferguson would include the creation of an electronic complaint tracking system, an early intervention system and training throughout various levels of the police department.

The announcement of the amendments at the Ferguson Community Center, however, infuriated a number of those who supports the original consent decree.

Ferguson has been under scrutiny since the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014.

Councilman Wesley Bell, who proposed the changes, said he was confident the Justice Department would agree.

“I think it’s more important to actually see these things work than to see the city go away and these things won’t happen”, Bell said.

Karl Tricamo, 32, shouted out as the council approved the amended deal, wondering why it wasn’t announced until the end of the meeting. Accordingly, meeting the said provision will also require the city to give fire fighters an equivalent raise, which can cost up to a million dollars yearly.

Under the agreement, Ferguson will pay the cost of a Justice Department monitor for at least three years, purchase software and hire staff to maintain data on arrests, traffic stops and use of force incidents. Mike Brown Sr., center, listens to part of the public comment portion of the Ferguson city council meeting in Ferguson, Mo., on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 where the consent decree with the United States Departm… Knowles says that the city’s contract with Ferguson firefighters requires parity in pay with the city’s police officers.

It was one of a series of killings of black men, mostly by white police officers, that set off a nationwide debate about the use of police force, especially against minorities.

But other residents said agreeing to the decree will cripple the city of about 21,000 that has a budget of about $14 million and is roughly $2.8 million in debt.

“… We have worked very hard to ensure that our negotiations were feasible and realistic for the citizens of Ferguson”, Mayor James Knowles III said.

“I would rather lose our city by fighting for it in court than lose it by giving into the DOJ’s crushing demands”, said Susan Ankenbrand, a 41-year resident of Ferguson.

Proponents of the agreement said the reforms were necessary to ensure fairness to the city’s African-American residents, which make up about 70% of the city’s population.

The NAACP dismissed cost concerns raised by Knowles as a tactic that has been used “since time immemorial” – including during desegregation battles in the South – by state and local officials trying to elude civil rights mandates.

“We made extremely reasonable changes that make the agreement workable for the city of Ferguson”, Knowles said. Much of the deficit came from police overtime and lost tax revenue from businesses damaged during unrest following the shooting death of Brown, 18. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.