I'm Shocked! Shocked I Tell You!

[marmar]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/03/doj-ferguson-investigation_n_6787804.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000013


WASHINGTON -- A Justice Department investigation has found that the Ferguson Police Department discriminates against black residents and routinely violates the Constitution and federal law, an official told The Huffington Post.

The results of the investigation were detailed in a meeting between Ferguson and Justice Department officials on Tuesday. A Ferguson official confirmed to The Huffington Post that city and Justice Department officials were meeting on Tuesday afternoon. The so-called “pattern or practice” investigation of the Ferguson Police Department was announced by the Justice Department in September, just weeks after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.

DOJ's investigation was based on reviews of thousands of pages of records, on-site visits and interviews with members of the community. It found that police in Ferguson routinely make arrests without probable cause and that African-Americans were more than twice as likely to be searched during vehicle stops but less likely to be found in possession of contraband. It found that 88 percent of documented use of force incidents were against African-Americans.

[randys1]

1. Can police chief and all police who violated rights be arrested? TODAY?

[Glassunion]

3. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Slow down...

Let's not get crazy.

Look, the JD found a pattern of abuse. It's all documented and stuff. We don't want to go throwing the baby out with the bath water... And stuff.

[hopemountain]

10. is this sarcasm? nt

[daleanime]

11. Yes...

[randys1]

13. What was I thinking, I mean you are right, those in question are WHITE, white people own

everything and everybody

Well, not anymore they dont, but they think they do

or WE think we do

[Glassunion]

15. They'll be fine.

Maybe a slap on the wrist and a promise to re-evaluate their practices. That'll make it all better.

[randys1]

16. Now hold it, I know we are joking around and all that...

But a slap on the wrist?

Isnt that a bit harsh?

I was thinking sending them on a retreat in Malibu with speakers and little games they could play that would teach them to be nice.

[Glassunion]

18. You're implying that they need to learn something...

They did not do anything wrong. If anger is justified, it should be directed at the Justice Department for trying to stir up some shit.

[randys1]

19. That fucking Holder, god damn racist.

Back on earth, the racists in the Senate decided that the Black woman taking his place aint no good neither

[DeSwiss]

17. Depends on the baby.....

[Bettie]

29. That baby is just protecting his cake

and he'll stop anyone who tries to take it from him.

OMG...he's standing his ground!

[hopemountain]

9. especially the ones who were recorded

calling peaceful protestors "animals".

[guillaumeb]

2. how shocked are you?

"Cui bono" is as true today as in Roman times. One can rarely go wrong by following the money. Racism is used as an excuse to arrest and the fines generated by the arrests are used to pay for the continued oppression of poor minorities. The real American way, if rarely acknowledged as such.
See the link below for more:
http://www.governing.com/topics/public-justice-safety/gov-ferguson-missouri-court-fines-budget.html

[countryjake]

4. I am pretty shocked that the DOJ actually hints at that in their report.

Justice Department releases scathing Ferguson report

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/justice-department-releases-scathing-ferguson-report


~snip~

But even more than the treatment they received once stopped, the Justice Department’s report found that blacks were used in the criminal justice system to buoy the city’s economy and balance its budget. The practices uncovered by federal investigators have violated residents’ Constitutional Rights of due process and equal protection under the law...

~snip~

Since 2010, according to the report, the court has collected more revenue for Failure to Appear in court charges than any other charge. The court collected $442,901 in fines for such violations accounting for nearly 25% of total court revenue that year.

The sheer vastness of the net in which law enforcement and court officials cast upon the city’s black community is staggering. As of late 2014 the population of Ferguson was about 21,000. But of that number more than 16,000 had outstanding warrants issued by the city’s municipal courts. The vast majority of those warrants stem from cases involving minor violations such as parking infractions, traffic tickets and housing code violations, according to the report.

These findings, long known by local activists, lawyers and many black residents, underscore the tainted relationship between blacks and police.

Many have pointed no further to that fact that initial reports were that Officer Wilson stopped Brown and a friend for little more than walking down the center of the street.

It will be interesting to see if the report actually includes the word "racist". What I hope will really shock me is how the DOJ intends to fix the situation in Ferguson. Heads should fall.

[guillaumeb]

6. we cannot use the term racist in a post racial America

because it makes people uncomfortable. Well it makes white racists uncomfortable.


It will be interesting to see if the report actually includes the word "racist". What I hope will really shock me is how the DOJ intends to fix the situation in Ferguson.

you, me, and millions more will all be shocked if there is a real fix. I anticipate more talk about community relations, body cameras, and "Officer Friendly" nonsense and nothing about the reality of a militarized police force acting as a combination occupying army/slave patrol for America's minority communities of all colors.

[KamaAina]

5. Have they decided whether water is wet yet?

[daleanime]

12. Still waiting for further study...

[uponit7771]

7. And Wilson ON THE STAND said "those people are anti police"... well what the f**k for?!?!?! I mean

... the FDP treats everyone with respect and makes sure to add to the community etc /sarcasm

[jtuck004]

8. I wonder if they will get around to all the other departments who share that characteristic? n/t

[mountain grammy]

14. "88% of documented use of force incidents were against African Americans..

beating black people into submission is nothing new in America. Will the systemic terrorizing of American citizens ever end? We must all say enough!

[I hate liars]

20. Does no one in the press remember what happened in 2007?

Hillary is a piker compared to Rove and others in the Bush Jr whitehouse who funneled millions of emails illegally through an RNC-hosted server.

I'm no fan of Hillary, and I understand that what happened under Bush Jr doesn't justify any violation of statutes she might have committed, but before the outrage machine shifts into a higher gear, it might help to remind our short attention span country that the same people outraged by Hillary's actions were neck-deep in a much more serious abuse.

[Hekate]

21. Are you in the right thread?

[I hate liars]

22. Oops...

Sorry, no I'm not! (too many DU tabs open at once).

[Blue_Tires]

23. I suppose next you'll be telling me the Pope is a Catholic!!

[BrotherIvan]

24. So what are they going to DO about it?

[zeemike]

25. Nothing.

Justice is none of their business.

[BrotherIvan]

26. Then what are WE going to DO about it?

A kid with a bag of weed can go to jail for life but a cop can kill someone and not even be indicted? The state has a Democratic governor, why are we acting like there is nothing that can be done? The DoJ puts out a report? What good does it do? It should be used in a civil trial and it should be used by legislators to fix the damn problem.

[zeemike]

27. Probably nothing.

Because we are caught up in the game of politics and distracted from any real change by it.
But what can be done no one seems to have any interest in...but here is a suggestion that will go nowhere, A general strike until something IS done to bring justice to America.
Or mass protest the will not go away after a few hours of caring signs and let things go back to normal.
But everyone is foo scared for that kind of a solution, so all we have left is divine intervention, because there is no supper hero in politics that will do it.

[Enthusiast]

31. I recommend ACTION!

[Rex]

28. Nonsense! I was NG guaranteed that the PDs in that area are pillars of justice!

And that the DA is a honorable man! I swear I am not making this up...and by another DUer! Their embrace of the DA and the local PDs told me all I needed to know!

[Enthusiast]

30. K&R! This post deserves hundreds of recommendations!

[freebrew]

32. Here, in Mid-MO, they are reporting this as merely...

the DOJ has 'accused' the FPD of improper conduct.

NO, this was a result of long investigations, not just an accusation. It was a finding.
Meaning FACT. No questions. Truth.

Although, it's not just the FPD, what of the entire St. Louis County Department?
They were the ones responsible for the rioting.

A little history here: on the day Michael Brown was shot, there was a call to a med center of a suspected robbery of drugs. The St. Louis County SWAT team was sent. It was a false alarm. So, here they were, all dressed up, adrenalin or steroid systems spiked and nowhere to go.

And then the shooting of Mr. Brown.

Go figure

[Farmbrook]

33. Not surprised! Black people

stop looking to a white justice system that was never designed with you in mind for justice. RIP Trayvon, Michael etc. etc.