Holder to Announce Civil Rights Investigation of Ferguson Police

By Jeralyn, Section Misconduct
Posted on Wed Sep 03, 2014 at 08:51:18 PM EST
Tags: Ferguson, Michael Brown (all tags)

Share This: Digg!

Several news outlets are reporting Eric Holder will announce the Justice Department's civil rights division will launch an investigation into actions of Ferguson police.

A 1994 federal law gave the civil rights division the authority to probe whether police departments are engaging in a “pattern or practice” of violating constitutional rights or federal rights. The law was enacted after the videotaped beating of African American motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.

...Federal investigators look at patterns of excessive force, complaints against officers, and department training to help officers avoid racial profiling and unnecessary use of force.

[More....]

Potential outcomes:

An investigation often ends up in a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department against a local police department. Justice Department officials could also reach a settlement with the police department, which includes a consent decree and federal monitoring...

The investigation will be broader than the Michael Brown killing. There are many more reports of police brutality in Ferguson.

< Saudi Arabia Beheads Four Drug Traffickers But Complains About ISIS | Thursday Morning Reading Club >

Legal

Nothing on this site should be construed as legal advice. TalkLeft does not give legal advice.

TalkLeft is not responsible for and often disagrees with material posted in the comments section. Read at your own risk.

Holder to Announce Civil Rights Investigation of Ferguson Police | 22 comments (22 topical)

Readers Must Login or Create an Account to Comment

Very good... (5.00 / 2) (#5)
by kdog on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 09:04:34 AM EST

start in Ferguson, and then I'd like to see a investigation/review of every police force in the nation. City/Town, County, State, and Federal levels.

It's a much bigger problem than Ferguson...I would be so bold as to call policing styles and tactics a national crisis in desperate need of reform. Massive doses of sunlight disinfectant required.

You are spot on. (5.00 / 1) (#9)
by Chuck0 on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 09:56:23 AM EST

It is not just about race but the attitudes and methods used by police around the country towards the public at large. Look at the horrifying cavity searches that were conducted in New Mexico recently. I wish there a hundred Ferguson's in this country (the protests, not the looting). People should be taking to the streets every time the police anywhere commit acts of abuse.

Law enforcement standard operating procedure has evolved from serving the public to officer safety, first and foremost, without regard to the public. What if fire fighters took that tact? No one would ever be rescued, ever.


It is not just about race (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by Uncle Chip on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 10:16:11 AM EST

but the attitudes and methods used by police around the country towards the public at large.

Exactly --

The Andy Lopez shooting in Santa Rosa is another one where he was shot 8 times [4 in the back] while carrying a toygun. Of course the DOJ went in there to investigate as well but nothing has come from it.

The only justice any of these victims ever get is when the families sue the municipality in civil court and walk away with $15 million from the taxpayers pocket.


: These smaller town police forces (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by fishcamp on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 10:55:52 AM EST

that have been given the big a$$ war machines seem to have gone to hyper bully mode. When Bush used to come down to the keys for bone fishing they would just park a fire truck at each end of all 42 bridges down here. Not sure what good that did. Once after a three day commercial fishing trip to the Dry Tortugas I was standing at the end of the dock while Islamorada Fish Co. was weighing and buying our fish. Bone fish George, as we called him back then, came walking out where I was standing all by himself and we started talking about the fishing. Naturally I was a little nervous so he said they had already checked our boat name and all of us were ok. His fleet of little bonefish skiffs pulled up, we shook hands, he went fishing, and I collected my meager fish money and went home. I've always wondered how many guns had been aimed at me.

FWIW (none / 0) (#6)
by squeaky on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 09:17:25 AM EST

The number of police department reviews the Justice Department has initiated under Holder for possible constitutional violations is twice that of any of his predecessors. At least 34 other departments are under investigation for alleged civil rights violations....
The federal officials said the probe will look not only at Ferguson but also at other police departments in St. Louis County. Some, like Ferguson, are predominantly white departments serving majority-African-American communities, and at least one department invited the Justice Department to look at its practices. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the pending inquiry.

WaPo


: Thank you... (none / 0) (#7)
by kdog on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 09:27:57 AM EST

definitely a step in the right direction.
I'd like to see even more Justice Dept. manpower allocated to this most important issue...34 departments in a nation of about 700,000 cops state level and below, plus 100 something thousand federal cops is still a drop in the bucket.
In an ideal scenario I'd like to see each and every one of them interviewed, record reviewed, and re-screened. If done right, it would be a wise allocation of resources to simply restore the public trust...which outside of Fox News circles is at an all-time low imo.

Let's not overlook the fact (none / 0) (#1)
by NYShooter on Wed Sep 03, 2014 at 09:25:20 PM EST

that many police officers are just plain brutes, and abuse civilians of all stripes not just certain racial, or, ethnic minorities.

Racial profiling is, as the name implies, singling out racial minorities, and, the practice must stop. However, the issue of police misconduct is much broader than that. The slogan, "Preserve and Protect," should be the goal of all Police Departments, and, any investigation should focus on police conduct towards all citizens, including minorities, not just minorities.

There will be no joy (none / 0) (#2)
by Uncle Chip on Wed Sep 03, 2014 at 10:03:28 PM EST

in Mudville tonight.

But I'm sure this is no surprise for them.

: Actually (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by CaptHowdy on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 09:31:45 AM EST

67% of Mudville will probably be pretty happy.

I was wondering (none / 0) (#3)
by Repack Rider on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 01:41:29 AM EST

...whether there were repercussions for the failure of the FPD to make even the most rudimentary notes on the shooting.

We'll see if there are repercussions, but the omission suggests that even with a week of research the FPD couldn't find a positive spin.

Sooner or later there must be an official statement on what took place. So far, crickets.

Failure of FPD (none / 0) (#4)
by Uncle Chip on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 08:19:26 AM EST

The most outrageous thing to me is how the Police Chief of Ferguson dismissed the statements of witnesses [who incidentally were all black and non-LEO and thus not worthy of being believed which should be large part of the DOJ investigation], confiscated all their cellphones to see what could be proven, and then just outright lied about the shooting creating his own scenario from the non-statements of Quickdraw Wilson.

But he didn't count on there being other recordings of the event that have since surfaced aka the Black Canseco video and the gunshot audio which have forced him back to the drawing board.


Not familiar with Black Canseco video.... (none / 0) (#12)
by magster on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 12:18:26 PM EST

link or summary por favor?


Here: The Black Canseco Video (none / 0) (#13)
by Uncle Chip on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 12:51:39 PM EST

Black Canseco Video

that shows Wilson standing by the driver side door of his SUV at 2:20 on the video with Brown's hat just to the left of the SUV on the ground.

The video starts at 12:06, 3.5 minutes after the shooting, and the yellow tape is already up and a lot of Ferguson police already on the scene.

Wilson, the tall lanky one, walks up and down through the crime scene and doesn't appear to be bothered by any injuries, and is not even looked at by the EMT who arrives on the scene.

The Chief, who appears on the scene, said that the body was 35 feet from the SUV but that distance is closer to 100 feet and well up the street.

How does he get the distance so wrong especially when he had 2 days to measure it or pace it off.

And to date no journalist or PD official or anybody has corrected this misinformation.

Also the parking angle of the SUV calls into question the bullet allegedly fired from the front seat as it could not have been found where it ended up without going through the back window.

It's no wonder neither the officer nor the Chief want to put their story on paper, and anyone postulating it wants to remain anonymous.


: IDK, given the audio captured of other (none / 0) (#20)
by leftwig on Fri Sep 05, 2014 at 12:27:37 PM EST

eye witnesses on the video, I tend to think this video helps the officer more than it hurts him. I've watched enough MMA fights to realize a punch to the cheek seldom creates an open wound and swelling and bruising can take hours before being visible. I don't see that the video would be evidence that the officer had no ijuries.

Wilson Truck? and Shell Casing[s] (none / 0) (#14)
by Uncle Chip on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 01:24:39 PM EST

This also goes with it:

Wilson Truck? with shell casing[s]


Bracelet (none / 0) (#18)
by Uncle Chip on Fri Sep 05, 2014 at 09:28:03 AM EST

The missing bracelet is really not missing at all.

It's on his left arm after the incident -- it's a rubber band bracelet.


But was there... (none / 0) (#19)
by unitron on Fri Sep 05, 2014 at 10:41:14 AM EST

...anything on his right wrist?

And was there still anything there afterwards?


: That photo is the news conference afterwards (none / 0) (#21)
by Uncle Chip on Fri Sep 05, 2014 at 12:47:18 PM EST

Not sure which wrist it was on in the store, but it is a rubber band live strong type that can be switched from left to right and vice versa in a matter of seconds.
So it's meaningless and it certainly isn't a shiny gold bracelet alleged by the red herrings chasers at the CTH.
The folks over there so want the shell casing[s] to be a gold bracelet and yet did anyone even notice the original URL of the picture:
theconservativetreehouse....wilson-truck-with-shell-casing-highlighted
The person who posted it believed it to be a shell casing not a bracelet.
And now the red herring chasers want everyone to think the shell casing[s] is a bracelet.

From the Shirley Thou Jest Department (none / 0) (#15)
by Uncle Chip on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 05:15:22 PM EST

Civil Rights probe of George Zimmerman still active according to Holder

"There are active steps that we are still in the process of taking," Holder said. "There are witnesses who we want to speak to as a result of some recent developments."

Baloney -- there is nothing there, never was, and never will be.

: Maybe they're desparately looking... (none / 0) (#16)
by unitron on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 06:27:51 PM EST

...for evidence that somehow Zimmerman forced Eloise Dilligard to say nice things about him against her will.

Prince EA on Ferguson (none / 0) (#17)
by CaptHowdy on Thu Sep 04, 2014 at 06:43:32 PM EST

listen to this guy.

The big drug dealer Wilson took down (none / 0) (#22)
by Uncle Chip on Fri Sep 05, 2014 at 10:29:35 PM EST

This is the arrest for which Wilson was awarded a commendation but the department seems to be trying to bury it.