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DoJ issues scathing report on Ferguson police misconduct: 11 alarming findings inside

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I urge you to read the full breakdown here: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/11-alarming-findings-ferguson-police-department-report

But here's the top-list, with some excerpts:

  1. Issuing citations was a competition for some officers
  2. City officials solicit more police citations to boost revenue
  3. Officers would occasionally arrest and/or stop African-Americans with no reason
  4. Ferguson officers aren’t writing up their reports, and no one is checking
  5. Literally everyone is “WANTED”
  6. Ferguson officers are confused about the First Amendment
  7. Ferguson officers are using unnecessary force against the mentally ill
  8. Uncovered emails written by Ferguson officials about President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama are racist
  9. If you’re a mayor or employee of the court, no tickets for you!
  10. Police shoved a 15-year-old African-American girl into a locker
  11. SEND IN THE DOGS!

“Issuing three or four charges in one stop is not uncommon in Ferguson. Officers sometimes write six, eight, or, in at least one instance, fourteen citations for a single encounter. Indeed, officers told us that some compete to see who can issue the largest number of citations during a single stop.”

FPD supervisors are more concerned with the number of citations and arrests officers produce than whether those citations and arrests are lawful or promote public safety.

Instead of swearing out a warrant and seeking judicial authorization from a neutral and detached magistrate, officers make the probable cause determination themselves and circumvent the courts. Officers use wanteds for serious state-level crimes and minor code violations alike, including traffic offenses.

FPD arrests people for a variety of protected conduct: people are punished for talking back to officers, recording public police activities, and lawfully protesting perceived injustices.

(and yes, I know there was this thread, but this one has way more information and is separate from just the racial injustices)



Here's more from the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...ights-from-the-dojs-scathing-ferguson-report/

Some more bullet points and excerpts:

- Arrest warrants are "almost exclusively" used as threats to push for payments

- "There have been many cases in which a person has been arrested on a warrant, detained for 72 hours or more, and released owing the same amount as before the arrest was made."

- In every dog bite incident reported, the person bitten was black. This includes an unarmed 14-year-old boy who was not only attacked by the dog but also struck by an officer and one put a boot on the side of his head.

- From October 2012 to October 2014, every time a person was arrested because he or she was "resisting arrest," that person was black. (14 times)
 

Buzzman

Banned
Ferguson is just a bad apple I'm sure. You can't judge every police department just because of this one!
 

Vyroxis

Banned
Ferguson is just a bad apple I'm sure. You can't judge every police department just because of this one!

According to GAF, yes you can! One bad police officer proves they are all bad people who do bad things to everyone around them. Haven't you gotten the memo?
 

Suikoguy

I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
Ferguson is just a bad apple I'm sure. You can't judge every police department just because of this one!

Well, it's probably a number of departments far larger then one would suspect on the surface.
 

Piecake

Member
According to GAF, yes you can! One bad police officer proves they are all bad people who do bad things to everyone around them. Haven't you gotten the memo?

You are misconstruing the argument. The argument is that the majority of cops certainly don't do shit like this. The problem is, is that the cover for bad cops. So long as they cover and protect bad cops, those cops are also bad cops because they allowing situations like Ferguson (though hopefully not as dire) to continue.

I personally like this article more

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/4/8149337/doj-ferguson-report-police-racism

Shit is just disgusting.

4) Police arrested black residents when they were trying to care for loved ones who were hurt
The report concedes that it is "both essential and difficult to keep distraught family from being in close proximity to their loved ones on the scene of an accident," but says, "there is rarely a need to arrest and jail them rather than, at most, detain them on the scene."

Yet investigators found that during tragedies the FPD made multiple arrests or issued multiple citations, mostly against black people.

Here's one example:

In one instance from May 2014, for example, a man rushed to the scene of a car accident involving his girlfriend, who was badly injured and bleeding profusely when he arrived. He approached and tried to calm her. When officers arrived they treated him rudely, according to the man, telling him to move away from his girlfriend, which he did not want to do. They then immediately proceeded to handcuff and arrest him, which, officers assert, he resisted. EMS and other officers were not on the scene during this arrest, so the accident victim remained unattended, bleeding from her injuries, while officers were arresting the boyfriend. Officers charged the man with five municipal code violations (Resisting Arrest, Disorderly Conduct, Assault on an Officer, Obstructing Government Operations, and Failure to 82 Comply) and had his vehicle towed and impounded.

"n the summer of 2012, a 32-year-old African-American man sat in his car cooling off after playing basketball in a Ferguson public park. An officer pulled up behind the man's car, blocking him in, and demanded the man's Social Security number and identification. Without any cause, the officer accused the man of being a pedophile, referring to the presence of children in the park, and ordered the man out of his car for a pat-down, although the officer had no reason to believe the man was armed. The officer also asked to search the man's car. The man objected, citing his constitutional rights. In response, the officer arrested the man, reportedly at gunpoint, charging him with eight violations of Ferguson's municipal code. One charge, Making a False Declaration, was for initially providing the short form of his first name (e.g., "Mike" instead of "Michael"), and an address which, although legitimate, was different from the one on his driver's license. Another charge was for not wearing a seat belt, even though he was seated in a parked car. The officer also charged the man both with having an expired operator's license, and with having no operator's license in his possession. The man told us that, because of these charges, he lost his job as a contractor with the federal government that he had held for years."
 

Hylian7

Member
According to GAF, yes you can! One bad police officer proves they are all bad people who do bad things to everyone around them. Haven't you gotten the memo?

You're missing the point. That is basically a #NotAllMen strawman argument. The fact of the matter is that we KNOW a lot of police have this problem, and seeing an entire police department have this is not a good sign. It shows that something needs to change with the police force. I think surely you can agree to that.
 

Jonnax

Member
Some examples:

“In November 2011, a court clerk received a request from a friend to “fix a parking ticket” received by the friend’s coworker’s wife. After the ticket was faxed to the clerk, she replied: “It’s gone baby!”

“In March 2014, a friend of the Court Clerk’s relative emailed the Court Clerk with a scanned copy of a ticket asking if there was anything she could do to help. She responded: “Your ticket of $200 has magically disappeared!”

It's pretty brazen to use their work email. =|
 
Fuck this country this shit isn't just happening in Ferguson and that's 100% fact. In two weeks no one will even fucking care about this nor will anything happen to any of those pricks. I'm tired of being seen as fucking "black" We're human just like everyone else.
 
Fuck this country this shit isn't just happening in Ferguson and that's 100% fact. In two weeks no one will even fucking care about this nor will anything happen to any of those pricks. I'm tired of being seen as fucking "black" We're human just like everyone else.

People don't care about it now. I'm not sure who this would be shocking to. One night of watching the Ferguson livestreams would have clued anyone in who actually wanted to know.

Of course, we could have been listening to what the residtents have been saying this whole time too, but why would we care about them? They're black! Pull up your bootstraps and get a job.
 

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
City officials asking for more citations for more revenue -- no shit. That happens everywhere.


This police department needs to be disbanded and reformed.

Send in the Feds.
 

pa22word

Member
City officials solicit more police citations to boost revenue

>.>

Isn't this essentially every town in existence, everywhere? I mean I know it's a good thing to list on a report to release to the public to get people riled up, but I haven't ever lived anywhere where this wasn't strictly true, even if not publicly talked about.

Not that I'm denying that Ferguson or the police in general aren't in need of reform, but that just struck me out as being odd considering how widespread and commonplace it is essentially everywhere in the US.
 

Jonnax

Member
What the fuck.
http://www.vox.com/2015/3/4/8149337/doj-ferguson-report-police-racism
From emails from Police and municipal court officials
Each of these emails was received by supervisors of FPD's patrol and court operations, who are responsible for making sure that officers obey laws, uphold the constitution, and treat all people equally. According to the report, there was no evidence that anyone ever asked that the senders of these emails refrain from sending racist messages, nor was there any evidence that anyone was ever disciplined as a result of them. Rather, the emails were often forwarded to others.



A 2011 message said "An African-American woman in New Orleans was admitted into the hospital for a pregnancy termination. Two weeks later she received a check for $5,000. She phoned the hospital to ask who it was from. The hospital said, 'Crimestoppers.'"

A June 2011 email described a man seeking to obtain "welfare" for his dogs because they are "mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and have no frigging clue who their Daddies are."




The report describes one person's experiences like this:

"We spoke with one African-American man who, in August 2014, had an argument in his apartment to which FPD officers responded, and was immediately pulled out of the apartment by force. After telling the officer, "you don't have a reason to lock me up," he claims the officer responded: "N*****, I can find something to lock you up on." When the man responded, "good luck with that," the officer slammed his face into the wall, and after the man fell to the floor, the officer said, "don't pass out motherf****r because I'm not carrying you to my car." Another young man described walking with friends in July 2014 past a group of FPD officers who shouted racial epithets at them as they passed.

What the fuck.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
City officials asking for more citations for more revenue -- no shit. That happens everywhere.


This police department needs to be disbanded and reformed.

Send in the Feds.

Shouldn't that make us more concerned about it, not less?
 

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
Shouldn't that make us more concerned about it, not less?

Of course it should. Hardly any way to stop it unless DOJ does a review of a whole police organization which apparently takes people getting killed and riots happening to have happen.

There should be a federal organization that solely focuses on "internal affairs" sorts of things -- not sure if that is covered by the FBI already or of they are supposed to already be doing that. Need to clip this stuff before it gets to critical mass.
 

antonz

Member
1,2 and 9 are sadly widespread issues you could trace to about everywhere. The others are widespread as well

1 is often encouraged by the departments themselves and may even offer some sort of reward for it.

2 is without a doubt pretty much every department. Its why speed traps exist, why cameras are brought in etc. All about the Benjamin's not actual safety.
9 should shock no one. Officials and cops generally wave their status and are left to go. Sometimes it doesn't work but usually does.


All of this stuff to end would require greater civilian oversight of the Departments. Departments policing themselves needs to end
 
What happens after this? If the answer is "nothing" this report is absolutely meaningless.

The answer is "nothing", isn't it?
 

antonz

Member
What happens after this? If the answer is "nothing" this report is absolutely meaningless.

The answer is "nothing", isn't it?

This is the DOJ releasing what it found in its investigation that led to the threat aimed at Ferguson to clean up or be sued. Making it Public they hope to add more pressure to the department. Hopefully it does lead to some good
 

SonnyBoy

Member
Even though I know these things to be true and have experienced some of it, it was painful to read. And disheartening to know that it's not going to change.
 
The majority of the time a "resisting arrest" charge is just a way for an officer to fuck with someone. It's such a bullshit charge.
 

Infinite

Member
>.>

Isn't this essentially every town in existence, everywhere? I mean I know it's a good thing to list on a report to release to the public to get people riled up, but I haven't ever lived anywhere where this wasn't strictly true, even if not publicly talked about.

Not that I'm denying that Ferguson or the police in general aren't in need of reform, but that just struck me out as being odd considering how widespread and commonplace it is essentially everywhere in the US.
Because it happens everywhere that hardly means it should be dismissed. In fact it should be even more alarming to you not the opposite.
 

Suikoguy

I whinny my fervor lowly, for his length is not as great as those of the Hylian war stallions
The majority of the time a "resisting arrest" charge is just a way for an officer to fuck with someone. It's such a bullshit charge.

I would like to say Cameras would help with that, but as recent examples have shown, even that is not enough... If visual evidence is not enough, I'm not sure what the fuck would be.
 
This is the DOJ releasing what it found in its investigation that led to the threat aimed at Ferguson to clean up or be sued. Making it Public they hope to add more pressure to the department. Hopefully it does lead to some good

I hope it leads somewhere, but sadly I think that if change were to happen that it would need an external force to carry it out. I have no faith that they'll make any changes internally that are meaningful because they'd just be too "radical" in their view (e.g. fire the top brass).
 

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
Seems like they exist only to terrorize. I guess that makes them terrorists. Can we use the Patriot Act against them?
 
I hope it leads somewhere, but sadly I think that if change were to happen that it would need an external force to carry it out. I have no faith that they'll make any changes internally that are meaningful because they'd just be too "radical" in their view (e.g. fire the top brass).

There is going to have to be strong pressure or actual affirmative change coming from the Federal government. I have no faith whatsoever in any police department to actually reform itself unless it is being threatened by something more powerful than itself.
 

Damerman

Member
the one part that drives me crazy is the one where police accuse the guy of being a pedophile... this is some kind of sick joke.
 
You'd think decades of black people complaining about these issues would clue most of society in. But yet here we are, still shocked in 2015, meanwhile black people are reading this going

tumblr_mai0kxtvEP1rw29eto2_500.gif


I await Fox News to say "bu-bu-but what about black on black violence?!" or even better "Mike Brown was a thug and deserved to be put down, it was a clean kill" or "They riot and destroy their own community. White people don't do that!" (as video of an utterly pointless pumpkin riot plays in the background....but hey don't speak on that because it doesn't fit the narrative) . But don't worry the septic tank drivel of America will totes post those poorly written "As a geriatric racist, I know what's best for black people and don't worry what I'm writing isn't racist because there's this one guy who agrees and he's black" articles all over facebook that they get from equally putrid websites.

End result....nothing will be done to change the fundamental issues. They'll slap Ferguson PD on the wrist and say "bad Ferguson PD" some douche from said department will issue some shit press conference and say they're sorry for decades of rampant racism and will promise to do better. They'll get a random black person to stand next to them (extra points if she/he is in uniform), a bunch of dolts in the audience will clap. Blogs and news outlets will mark this as a turning point in racial relations in America. Majority of America will eat it up and wave their "progress!" flag, meanwhile African Americans are rolling their eyes at this shit because it's been the exact same snake-oil formula that's been peddled since the fucking 60s. They'll look around as everyone else is cheering and ask "So...what exactly are you son of a bitches cheerin for? Ain't shit change except the day of the week. The laws that got us here are still in place and are still as strong as ever!" And the majority will be like "Yea but this is a start!!" We've been on the starting lap of this race since forever jumping over hurdles while dragging a big ass ball and chain. Rest of you mofos are on lap 82 and shit.

*ZzzzzZ*
 
>.>

Isn't this essentially every town in existence, everywhere? I mean I know it's a good thing to list on a report to release to the public to get people riled up, but I haven't ever lived anywhere where this wasn't strictly true, even if not publicly talked about.

Not that I'm denying that Ferguson or the police in general aren't in need of reform, but that just struck me out as being odd considering how widespread and commonplace it is essentially everywhere in the US.

Police constantly say they don't have quotas, despite evidence to the contrary. Having a quota is unconstitutional.
 
Well this is really bad. People that think like this might as well be from another planet. I just can't see any common ground for progress other than revoking their right to procreate.
 

DBT85

Member
I genuinely cannot believe that a first world country could be THIS bad. It boggles the fucking mind.

Like, there are issues in every force around, and blips of corruption. But fuck me.
 

Chumly

Member
Every single officer involved in any of these activities should be in jail for a minimum of 5 years. Blatantly making false arrests and trumping up charges for revenue and abuse of power should include severe consequences.
 
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