The Far Reach of Racism in Ferguson

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J. WESLEY JUDD

Later today, the Justice Department is expected to release a report with the results of an investigation that was launched last year after Darren Wilson, a white police office, fatally shot Michael Brown, a black teenager, in Ferguson, Missouri. A preliminary summary of the report details the bias and racism present in Ferguson’s police force, as well as their consistent use of excessive force.

Federal investigators used hundreds of interviews, 35,000 pages of police records, and racial data on police stops to compile the report. The New York Times wrote:

“[Over] the past two years, African-Americans—who make up about two-thirds of the city’s population—accounted for 85 percent of traffic stops, 90 percent of citations, 93 percent of arrests and 88 percent of cases in which the police used force. Black motorists were twice as likely as whites to be searched but were less likely to be found in possession of contraband such as drugs or guns.”

While Ferguson officials are now facing the very real possibility of being sued by the Justice Department on charges of violating the Constitution (unless it negotiates a settlement), we shouldn't forget that a number of other police stations have faced similar investigations. From Seattle and Portland to New Orleans and Miami—and even smaller units like East Haven and Maricopa County in Arizona—there are many cases against departments that have been “under federal investigation for excessive or lethal use of force against and discriminatory policing of people of color, other minorities, and vulnerable populations.”

more

http://www.psmag.com/politics-and-law/racial-bias-far-reaching-in-ferguson