It isn't over: DOJ still has two investigations into Michael Brown shooting open,

[ucrdem]

including one into Wilson and another into the conduct of the Ferguson police, and other civil rights groups are also investigating possible civil actions:

Ferguson Indictment: Officer Darren Wilson, Ferguson Police Department Could Still Face Civil Charges
By Alessandria [e-mail]@ibtimes.com on November 24 2014 10:42 PM


Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted by a grand jury Monday, but the battle for justice in the fatal Ferguson shooting is far from over. The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation, the state could revoke Wilson's law enforcement license and several civil rights groups could file civil suits against both Wilson and the Ferguson Police Department.

{snip}

There are currently two open Department of Justice investigations related to Brown’s death: One probe into Wilson and the other into the Ferguson Police Department’s practices, according to McClatchy. The first could find Wilson guilty of violating Brown’s civil rights. The DOJ must prove “without a reasonable doubt” that Wilson knowingly and intentionally “deprived” Brown of “a right or privilege protected by the Constitution of laws of the United States,” according to federal law via McClatchy. However, experts don’t believe this is a likely outcome.

“Criminal enforcement of constitutional rights is not something that is easily pursued, Samuel Bagenstos, a University of Michigan law professor, recently told the Associated Press. It really requires building a case very carefully, very painstakingly.”

The DOJ and several civil rights organizations are investigating a possible case against the Ferguson Police Department for mistreatment of protesters who have been almost daily fixtures on Ferguson's streets since August. The DOJ is also investigating the department's practices and relationship with constituents prior to Brown’s death. When protests began, some police officers were seen wearing “I am Darren Wilson” bracelets.

http://www.ibtimes.com/ferguson-indictment-officer-darren-wilson-ferguson-police-department-could-still-face-1728858

[Cha]

1. Nope, it's not over.. but, does it have a snowball's chance in hell to bring Justice for Michael

Brown? That would be by making his killer accountable.

"Officer Darren Wilson was not indicted by a grand jury Monday, but the battle for justice in the fatal Ferguson shooting is far from over. The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation, the state could revoke Wilson's law enforcement license and several civil rights groups could file civil suits against both Wilson and the Ferguson Police Department."

Thanks ucr

[ucrdem]

2. After McCulloch's performance last night

I think it became more likely. That was about as obvious a miscarriage of justice as I've seen outside of the movies. I think eventually Wilson is headed for the slammer but it might take a while. Not too long I hope . . .

[Cha]

3. McCulloch hoisting on his own petard.. sweet sweet Justice. Wth was he thinking?.. obviously

not very well. All the "I am Darren Wilsons" were cheering him on.. the rest of the world.. not so much.

[ucrdem]

4. It was pretty horrible.

Like being in a time warp or watching a movie about the south in the fifties. Or thirties. Hopefully this was one of the last gasps of Red America but I guess time will tell. Red America no doubt sees it as a victorious comeback.

[Cha]

5. K!

[ucrdem]

6. Also thanks to McCulloch the hard part got a little easier:

To bring charges against Wilson,

The DOJ must prove “without a reasonable doubt” that Wilson knowingly and intentionally “deprived” Brown of “a right or privilege protected by the Constitution of laws of the United States,” according to federal law via McClatchy.

If McCulloch rigged his grand jury evidence as it appears he did that would make Wilson's intention clearer, or so it seems to me at least!

[Cha]

10. Mahalo ucr.. I just had the thought.. wth must AG Holder be thinking of this?! SMH

[ucrdem]

11. I hope he's thinking of staying just a little bit longer. . .

Trayvon Martin was bad but not clearly within DOJ purview, but Michael Brown was shot by a cop. That would be hard to walk away from so I hope he doesn't!

p.s. thanks Cha!

[Cha]

12. It's tools like McCulloch that give the Law a bad name.

A' ole pilikia

[SoCalMusicLover]

7. I Would Not Bet On Anything Happening

After a few months pass, when nobody is paying attention, they'll make a statement about no further actions being taken. And it will not surprise anyone then either.

[ucrdem]

8. That's a possibility,

and Holder hasn't made any promises, but I think if there's a reasonable chance of winning a conviction, they'll bring charges, if only to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again in the same town next year.

[SoCalMusicLover]

9. The System Is A Joke

And it's not just this case, it's Everywhere.

Once again, it's Blame The Dead Person. Put them on trial.

I guess in a fictional world, there would be a plot twist, where the unexpected happens. The prosecutor that everyone thinks is biased and presenting a losing case, ends up securing an indictment. But the script here did not deviate, nor did we see the ending we hope for.

[ucrdem]

13. We haven't seen the final cut

Yeah the script is straight from the archives, but truth is stranger than fiction and I'm ready to be surprised. Look at Syria: we all thought we were going to war but it turns out we weren't and now Hagel is leaving because he thinks we should have. So stick around for the last reel.

[JI7]

14. unlikely anything will happen, the problem is the police departments as a whole

just like in the zimmerman case you have the entire dept defending the killer.

it's a problem with the system.

[ucrdem]

16. True, but the DOJ has already sent the Ferguson police dept two letters

of reprimand, one telling them to knock off the "I am Darren Wilson" armbands and another telling them to make their name badges visible. And the investigations are still under way, so I wouldn't be surprised if the DOJ brings charges or puts the dept under DOJ control or takes some other drastic measure. It's a small dept., not like New York or L.A., but come to think of it the L.A.P.D. was eventually sued by the DOJ after Rodney King and put under DOJ supervision for several years. So it's certainly possible, though it won't happen right away.

p.s apparently it took eight years to secure the LAPD consent decree:

The Los Angeles Police Department is today completing one of the most ambitious
experiments in police reform ever attempted in an American city. After a decade of
policing crises that began with the beating of Rodney King in 1991 and culminated in the
Rampart police corruption scandal in 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in
May 2000 that it had accumulated enough evidence to sue the City of Los Angeles over a
pattern-and-practice of police misconduct. Later that year, the city government entered a
“consent decree” promising to adopt scores of reform measures under the supervision of
the Federal Court.

http://www.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/Harvard-LAPD%20Study.pdf

[blkmusclmachine]

15. NOTHING will come of this. The system protects itself.

[ucrdem]

17. Here's what happened as a result of the 1992 Rodney King uprising in L.A:

It took eight years, three mayors, and five police chiefs, including L.A.'s first and second African-American police chiefs, to get there, but these reforms were all carried out and only after nine years of DOJ oversight was the consent decree lifted in 2009 and control of the LAPD returned to the police commission:

http://www.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/final_consent_decree.pdf

That's a lot of reform, but it took several years, not a few days. The Ferguson police department is going to look a lot different in a few years.

p.s. maybe less than a few years -- Williams was appointed less than two months after the May '92 Rodney King unrest:

................................

Willie L. Williams, LA Police Chief June 30, 1992 – May 17, 1997


Bernard C. Parks, LA Police Chief August 12, 1997 - May 4, 2002

[ucrdem]

18. More on the LAPD reforms:

Los Angeles riots: 20 years later, has LAPD reformed?
By Daniel B. Wood,CS Monitor, APRIL 25, 2012

(snip)

A succession of police chiefs – most notably William Bratton – have made reform a top priority. Eight years of federal oversight helped clean up the department. And the changing demographics of the LAPD – 37 percent white, compared with 59 percent in 1992 – has changed the character of the force, many say.

(snip)

The Los Angeles Times reports that 70 percent of Los Angeles residents now say they approve of the police department, and at one stop on the bus tour, the Korean owner of a small convenience store offers words of praise.

“Twenty years ago, when the police showed up, everyone got more tense. Now you feel they’re here to help," he says. "That’s a big change.”

(snip)

Local black activist Najee Ali likewise gives the LAPD an “A” for what it has achieved. He says police regularly come into the neighborhoods for formal discussions with residents and have improved response times dramatically, which makes residents feel the police are for them rather than against them.

“They have a senior lead officer assigned directly to work with each neighborhood so that when some complaint or nuisance report comes in, it’s usually dealt with within 24 hours,” he says. Those reports include complaints such as vagrancy, gang activity, drug dealers, and graffitti.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/0425/Los-Angeles-riots-20-years-later-has-LAPD-reformed

[helpmetohelpyou]

19. Seriously

The LAPD are gangsters with a badge

[ucrdem]

20. Possibly but as repressive state apparatuses go, you could do worse . . .

"LAPD chief orders L.A.'s Ferguson protesters released in time for Thanksgiving dinner"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014953765

also

"Ferguson protesters still in L.A. jails get Thanksgiving reprieve"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014953807

[helpmetohelpyou]

21. I'm not talking about the chief because he could be a good man

but the street officers in the LAPD crack heads and shoot fast,

The LAPD is not a department that other police departments should try to exemplify

That would be a step backwards not forwards

[ucrdem]

22. Some no doubt, but the LAPD has changed radically in the last 20 years.

It's no longer an all-white or even mostly white dept for one thing. The stat in 2012 was 37% white, down from 59% in 1992. The LAPD of screen legend is not the LAPD circa 2014. Other local PDs haven't changed as drastically, so I suppose there's always a COPS episode somewhere in the vicinity, but the LAPD has been undergoing serious reform for 20 years, eight under DOJ supervision, as per the 2000 consent decree:

http://www.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/final_consent_decree.pdf

[helpmetohelpyou]

23. It just seems like they have their own kitchen to clean up first before we

we try to use them as the example of a good police department.

I'm sure they have good cops also on the force but all I'm saying is lets not lose our heads
using them as a good example, that's all I'm saying.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/lapd-corruption/

[ucrdem]

24. Ah okay, sure I agree 100%

Model of good policing, well ... maybe, in certain areas, diversity possibly, probably a few others, but what I'm getting at is that the DOJ was able to force changes that the Police Commission, city council, Christopher Commission etc. weren't.

The fact is that long before Rodney King there was pressure from City Hall and others to clean up the LAPD, and under Daryl Gates there were moves in the right direction, but it wasn't happening fast enough and the RK uprising was such a disaster, also a couple of big scandals (Rampart for one, there were others) that the DOJ finally stepped in and won the consent decree in 2000, and the reforms picked up speed after that.

But getting back to Ferguson, what the LAPD reforms show is that changing police departments is a slow business, even when there's enthusiastic local support.