The city of Ferguson is planning to hold three public hearings in early February, to allow people to comment on the proposed agreement.
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Among the most serious findings in the Justice review was that in almost 90% of cases in which Ferguson documented the use of force, those actions were used against African Americans.
The 102-page report also found evidence of racist jokes sent by some Ferguson police officers and court officials.
The City of Ferguson, Missouri has entered into a significant agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to address their issues of racial bias. The cameras are to be activated for all traffic stops, arrests, searches and encounters with people believed to be experiencing a mental health crisis.
A community mediation plan will also be implemented to find resolutions to certain disputes among community members in order to avoid the need for the involvement of the criminal justice system.
Gupta also said in the letter that she hoped the city council would approve the agreement so that the department would not have to “resort to contested litigation”, which she said would divert resources and delay implementation of the police and court reform.
In its report past year, the department described Ferguson as a city where the police department and court operated not as independent bodies but as a single moneymaking venture.
Violent protests erupted in the city after Brown, who was black, was killed by a white police officer. Ferguson officials also agreed to rewrite their municipal code to restrict the use of fines and jail time for petty violations.
“If we get to an agreement with the DOJ, the majority of the things that we agree to are not going be a surprise to anybody”, he said a year ago.
Still, the city has always maintained that residents would have to review any agreement before it is approved, and that hasn’t changed, Knowles said. “You can’t have community policing without the community”. A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict Wilson in the shooting. It also requires that the mostly-white police force do more to recruit minorities.
The agreement is supposed to ensure the city’s commitment to refocusing police and court practices on public safety rather than revenue generation.
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The city’s statement called the deal “the best agreement that the city’s representatives were able to obtain for the citizens”.
