“This is a reflection of trying to make this work for everybody’s concerns”, said Mayor James Knowles III.
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City Council approved the majority of a settlement with the Justice Department Tuesday that would reform courts and policing systems. But, concerned about the price tag, the council made some changes.
If the Justice Department denies the changes, a civil rights lawsuit is possible, potentially costing Ferguson millions in legal fees.
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. The Ferguson city council voted to approve a modified version of the consent decree. Both parties engaged in thoughtful negotiations over many months to create an agreement with cost-effective remedies that would ensure Ferguson brings policing and court practices in line with the Constitution.
The settlement was meant to correct problems identified in a Justice Department report previous year, including unconstitutional and discriminatory practices across the police force and municipal court system.
As the Two-Way previously reported, the package includes a number of facets, and would require the city to submit to independent monitoring. The officer who killed him has since resigned but was cleared of wrongdoing.
Vanita Gupta said that the council “attempted to unilaterally amend the negotiated agreement….”
The implementation of the plan is expected to be pricey. However, analysts said that the costs will reach between $2.2 million and $3.70 million exclusively for the first year, which heightens the citizens’ fear that implementing the changes will result to the city’s bankruptcy, whose annual budget is $14.5 million.
The Justice Department said the council’s proposed changes create “unnecessary delays”.
As Karl Tricamo shouted from the crowd, “I don’t think the DOJ is going to go for this”.
The biggest change removes a Justice Department requirement that police salaries be raised. “I don’t think the Department of Justice will turn around and say, ‘Here’s what we have decreed and here’s what we’ve written, so you’re telling us the only way we’ll accept it is if you change it and do what we want done.’ I don’t think they will accept those amendments”.
The amended agreement was announced and approved in a unanimous vote at the end of an often-boisterous meeting that had been moved to the Ferguson Community Center because of the crowd size.
Last week, residents attended two city council meetings to weigh in on the agreement, and will have another chance to voice their opinion on Tuesday ahead of the vote. “Cost should never be the reason not to do what’s right”, she said. “I would rather lose our city by fighting in court than losing it to DOJ’s crushing demands”.
Councilman Wesley Bell proposed the changes, several of which aim to reduce the cost of implementing the deal that officials anxious could bankrupt the St. Louis suburb. The black, unarmed 18-year-old was fatally shot August 9, 2014, by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during a confrontation on a street.
BRIDGETON, Mo. (AP) – St. Louis County Health Department says workers will conduct a health survey of respira… It is unclear if the Department of Justice will agree to the modifications. The consent decree was the product of the months of negotiation between the city and the DOJ.
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Also on Tuesday, a St. Louis County jury acquitted pastor and activist Rev. Osagyefo Sekou of a charge of failing to comply with a police order during a September 2014 protest against the Brown shooting.
