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- Sep 15, 2010
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In compiling the report, federal investigators conducted hundreds of interviews, reviewed 35,000 pages of police records and analyzed race data compiled for every police stop. They concluded that, 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.
The findings reinforce what the city’s African-American residents have been saying publicly for the past year: that years of discrimination and mistrust created the volatile environment that erupted after Mr. Brown’s shooting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/u...ias-and-excessive-force-in-ferguson.html?_r=1
Shockingly, the report says the discrimination was perpetuated due to the racial stereotypes held by city officials. In one incident, officials distributed racially-tinged jokes on their city email accounts, including a jab at President Barack Obama and a joke suggesting abortion in the black community would reduce crime. According to the Washington Post, one 2008 email stated that the president couldn’t hold that office for very long because “what black man holds a steady job for four years?”
DOJ Patterns Of Racial Bias Excessive Force Found In Ferguson Mo. News One
The report also suggests that officials relied on the fines from ticketing and arresting African-Americans to balance the city’s budget.
For people in Ferguson who cannot afford to pay their tickets, routine traffic stops can become yearslong ordeals, with repeated imprisonments because of mounting fines. Such fines are the city’s second-largest source of revenue after sales tax. Federal investigators say that has provided a financial incentive to continue law enforcement policies that unfairly target African-Americans.
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.
The findings reinforce what the city’s African-American residents have been saying publicly for the past year: that years of discrimination and mistrust created the volatile environment that erupted after Mr. Brown’s shooting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/04/u...ias-and-excessive-force-in-ferguson.html?_r=1
Shockingly, the report says the discrimination was perpetuated due to the racial stereotypes held by city officials. In one incident, officials distributed racially-tinged jokes on their city email accounts, including a jab at President Barack Obama and a joke suggesting abortion in the black community would reduce crime. According to the Washington Post, one 2008 email stated that the president couldn’t hold that office for very long because “what black man holds a steady job for four years?”
DOJ Patterns Of Racial Bias Excessive Force Found In Ferguson Mo. News One
The report also suggests that officials relied on the fines from ticketing and arresting African-Americans to balance the city’s budget.
For people in Ferguson who cannot afford to pay their tickets, routine traffic stops can become yearslong ordeals, with repeated imprisonments because of mounting fines. Such fines are the city’s second-largest source of revenue after sales tax. Federal investigators say that has provided a financial incentive to continue law enforcement policies that unfairly target African-Americans.
