Stephanie VonDrasek, 54, listens to the public comments during the Ferguson city council meeting in Ferguson, Mo., on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 where the consent decree with the United States Department of Jus… Louis Wilson, a Ferguson, Mo., resident for 16 years, turns to talk to the crowd Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, as he addresses the Ferguson city council during the public comment portion of a meeting where a con…
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On Feb. 9, the Ferguson City Council voted to reject the consent decree that the city’s negotiating team had negotiated. Knowles, the mayor, said there was about $500,000 in the budget to either fight a lawsuit or overhaul the city government.
The St. Louis suburb has been under scrutiny since 2014 when unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed by white police officer Darren Wilson.
The city of Ferguson had subsequently been ordered to reform its police and justice system after a federal investigation that painted a damning picture of the security forces accused of racism, harassment against blacks or random brutality. So much for all that: after Ferguson welched on the deal this week, the DOJ announced its plans to sue. The analysis suggested that the first-year cost of the agreement would be $2.2 million to $3.7 million, with second- and third-year costs between $1.8 million and $3 million in each year. The council voted 6-0 Tuesday to adopt the deal, but with seven amendments. So while most who spoke at Tuesday’s council meeting said they supported the settlement, some urged city officials to take their chances in court. “They have waited decades for justice”.
The city of Ferguson, Missouri, must now defend itself against a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice after months of negotiations failed to bring a compromise on a package of reforms created to revamp the city’s controversial policing practices.
At a news conference Wednesday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said while she was sensitive to the city’s cost concerns, “There is no price for constitutional policing”.
With senior Justice Department officials watching from Washington on a video feed, the council voted to reject the deal as written and send it back with changes.
The Justice Department complaint accuses Ferguson of routinely violating residents’ rights and misusing law enforcement to generate revenue – a practice the government alleged was “ongoing and pervasive”.
“This consent decree will be viewed as a moral victory by many in the social justice movement”, said Blake Ashby, a city resident.
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles defended the City Council’s unanimous decision to revise the agreement.
Federal officials announced last month they had reached an agreement with the city to radically reshape the troubled police force and avert a federal lawsuit. On Tuesday, the Ferguson City Council voted unanimously to adopt the agreement, but with seven amendments. The city said that giving pay raises to police officers could necessitate similar raises for other municipal employees.
Knowles said Wednesday that the financial burden of the original agreement was simply too heavy. In addition, of all incidents from 2010 to August 2014, African Americans accounted for 88 percent of all incidents in which a Ferguson police officer reported using force; and while African Americans make up 67 percent of Ferguson’s population, they made up more than 90 percent of all charges involving “manner of walking in roadway”, “failure to comply”, “resisting arrest”, and “disturbing the peace”. “They should not be forced to wait any longer”, Lynch said. That means, for example, that St. Louis County would not be beholden to the agreement if it takes over policing in Ferguson.
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Under President Barack Obama, the Justice Department has opened more investigations into patterns of police abuse than it has under any previous administration.
