Justice Department to announce lawsuit against Ferguson PD

by Robyn Mowatt

The United States Justice Department is in talks of suing the Ferguson, Missouri police department due to mistreatment of minority civilians.

Attorney General Eric Holder, in a press conference Feb. 19, said he will announce the results of the department’s findings of the investigation of the Michael Brown shooting as well as further shifting of the protocols within the police department in reference to crises within the next few weeks.

“This will be a great start into the lens of how immoral a lot of law enforcement officers are in their actions related to harassment and abuse,” Larry Fellows III, an Amnesty USA young leader fellow from St. Louis.

“I’ve always thought Ferguson Police Department was an example of civil servants who do not have a great relationship with everyone in their community,” Fellows III said.

The city of Ferguson was under much scrutiny last year when Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown.  Protests lit up nationwide including in Ferguson because of related to irresponsible policing and racial profiling concerns.

“[It will] most likely [be] the same result from the Department of Justice and George Zimmerman [case],” said Janai Clabon, Florida A&M graduate student from St. Louis.

Hannah Brooks, a Junior Law Associate at The Law Offices of Coleman & Brown, LLC of Chicago said the case is an an issue of race and stereotyping.

“This is about the police as an institution nationally, and the way that we [as blacks] are seen as sub-human and ‘super-human’, and never human and therefore our lives aren’t considered valuable at large,” Brooks said.

Some of the issues which may be a part of the lawsuit include a lawsuit filed by a group of low-income individuals allegedly claiming that officers in Ferguson directly chose to target minorities.

Minor traffic violations led to the individuals being jailed because they could not pay fines.

“In order to change the protocol, yes Ferguson Police Department protocol must change,” Brooks said. “It requires a cultural shift. A change in the Criminal Justice system requires a social and cultural shift [with] policies that back it up.”

This bold move which the Justice Department is possibly attempting to take will call for court supervision of the Ferguson Police Department to increase accountability of the police and their treatment minority citizens of Ferguson.

The Justice Department is possibly attempting to take will call for court supervision of the Ferguson Police Department to increase accountability of the police and their treatment minority citizens of Ferguson, according to Holder.

"I think everybody will see when we announce our results that the process that we have engaged in is, as I said back at the time when I went to Ferguson, independent, thorough and based on all the facts," Holder said at the National Press Club last week.

Fellows III said this announcement brings hope to a communities in despair.

“The DOJ scope needs to be [broader] and have more teeth looking into similar cities like Ferguson, and hopefully many municipalities within St. Louis County,” said Fellows III. “I can’t stress how much work needs to be done but this is a good start.”