Justice inquiry into Missouri police shooting could be expanded
WASHINGTON – A federal civil rights investigation into the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department could broaden to include the conduct of officers throughout the St. Louis area, Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday as he announced the Justice Department’s latest effort to scrutinize local police agencies.
“This is not a stopgap or short-term solution,” he said. “It’s a long-term strategy, founded on community policing that will provide a detailed road map to build trust, to bolster public safety (and) to ensure accountability.”
Holder confirmed at a news conference that the department would investigate not only the Aug. 9 police killing of Michael Brown, 18, but the conduct and practices of the entire Ferguson Police Department.
During his visit to Ferguson, Holder said, “people consistently expressed concerns stemming from specific alleged incidents, from general policing practices and from the lack of diversity on Ferguson’s police force.” The community is predominantly black and its police force mostly white.
He described the stories as fairly compelling, and said they included incidents of “traffic stops, revenue raising on the basis of traffic stops and traffic stops that occurred in certain parts of the area.”
He added that the investigation could expand to other St. Louis County police departments if similar conduct is found. Holder noted that St. Louis County administers training for officers throughout the area, including Ferguson. “If at any point, we find reason to expand our inquiry to include additional police forces in neighboring jurisdictions, we will not hesitate to do so.”
Since 2009, Holder’s Justice Department has prosecuted more than 300 individual officers and opened 20 investigations into police agencies around the country. It is also enforcing 14 agreements to reform law enforcement policies. In contrast to the small suburb of Ferguson, the large cities that have been targeted include Phoenix, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Newark, New Jersey.
Holder said the St. Louis County police chief has agreed to work with federal officials to implement reforms, especially dealing with racial profiling, searches and frisks, and the handling of mass demonstrations. In the nights that followed Brown’s shooting, county police were sharply criticized for confronting demonstrators with military equipment.
The inquiry into Ferguson’s Police Department is separate from the ongoing criminal investigation into whether Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, violated the civil rights of Brown, who was black, or used excessive force. The killing touched off nearly two weeks of protests.
The incident began when Wilson told Brown to stop walking in the street, and ended with Brown dead. Witnesses say that Brown had raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, but Wilson has reportedly told investigators that Brown tried to rush toward him. Autopsies have found that Brown, 18, had at least six bullet wounds, including one on the top of his head.
Ferguson police Chief Tom Jackson said the department welcomed the new investigation.