Does the Ferguson, Missouri police department need major changes because of the death of an unarmed black teen and the subsequent handling of the incident by law enforcement, the continued unrest in the community and lingering doubt about whether the real facts will ever be known or justice ever served?
Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that there was an obvious need for "wholesale change" in the Ferguson, Missouri, police department.
The Justice Department is investigating the practices of the police department following the Aug. 9 police shooting of an unarmed black 18-year-old, Michael Brown. That investigation focuses on alleged patterns of racial discrimination by the overwhelmingly white police department.
Local and federal authorities are also continuing to investigate the shooting of Brown by Officer Darren Wilson for potential criminal charges.
At the Washington Ideas Forum, Holder would not say what the reforms should be, but said the need for "wholesale change" was clear.
![Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the sixth annual "Washington Ideas Forum" in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014 where he addresses the Ferguson, MO police department and other issues.](../../sites/default/files/stories/FergusonPolice2-AP.jpg "Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the sixth annual "Washington Ideas Forum" in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014 where he addresses the Ferguson, MO police department and other issues. Photo Credit: The Associated Press, Manuel Balce Ceneta.")
A government official confirmed that there are discussions among Missouri officials about having Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson step down as part of efforts to change the department. The official was not authorized to discuss those talks by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The police department posted on its Twitter account that Jackson had not resigned and had not been asked to resign.
During a wide-ranging question-and-answer session, Holder was also asked about his 2009 characterization of the country as a "nation of cowards" when it comes to racial matters. He said he stood by those remarks and that the country was "still reluctant to talk about matters of race."
Links to more in depth articles on USAonRace.com about the killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson police department are below:
Michael Brown Death Investigated by U.S. Justice Department
Police Response to Michael Brown Death Shows Militarization
Why Was Michael Brown Killed By Police?
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
Comments
Ferguson, waiting verdict
Grand jury gives decision tonight. Waiting to see what decision brings. National guard ready to step in. Governor begs, for peace, patience, tolerance and restraint on all parties behalves.
Shocking
The verdict was released that Darren Wilson was found innocent and will not be charged. I am very worried about what will happen in Ferguson. I know that there were many riots and many building were burned. Tear gas was released and the crowds were hard to control. It is sad because looting and stealing does not bring justice to Mike Brown's name it just drags it through the mud because as a black community they are putting a bad look to how they handle things.
Martin Luther King Jr. showed
Martin Luther King Jr. showed the country what a peaceful protest looks like. It is safe to say that destroying buildings, cars, and other property is not peaceful. I agree that they are giving themselves a bad look. If they decide to protest peacefully, I believe that a lot more people would take their opinions seriously and even be more willing to help. No one wants to help someone who is violent and irrational.
Protesting
I completely agree. If they protested in a better way then maybe they would have been heard and taken more seriously. There are better way of dealing with situations than causing more issues. It angers people the way they are rioting and destroying the community so they are not being taken seriously.
Reply
I agree. The way the public are protesting and are acting due to this situation is not making things better. My opinion is that if black people want to act this way by burning down building, they are just acting in ways that they are saying MB didn't. Wasn't it believed that MB had a bad attitude and robbed a shop before he got killed?
I hope that Ferguson would
I hope that Ferguson would have listened to the governor and taken his advise. They seemed to have gone even crazier than they did when Brown was first shot. Now we are putting our officers' lives at risk just because people are upset and acting irrationally. They are destroying their own cause with this violence.
I agree that maybe adding
I agree that maybe adding some diversity and having all races in the police force would calm some people down.
Minorities need to have the
Minorities need to have the drive to become a part of the police force if they want to be equally represented. Many African-Americans are rioting because of the Ferguson decision instead of protesting peacefully and trying to become a part of the force themselves. If more minorities become police officers, the citizens will be much more comfortable and hopefully more trusting of our police.
Disagree
I think that even if there was more diversity in the police force and this still happened, people would have still protested this way. If there were more black police officers and this white man still shot MB, I think the same thing would have happened. What is MB was white? This would have never been such a big issue. Just because MB was black, this now becomes an issue that probably wasn't in the first place. The police officer could have just been trying to save his own life rather than being a racist.
Disrespectful Rioters
I find it extremely disrespectful that the rioters are protesting so violently. Police officers risk their lives to ensure the safety of the community, and the rioters are attacking them. It is a shame that the same people who work so hard to keep others safe are the target of this violence.
Agree
I agree, the violent protesting was unnecessary. I also think that some people who were involved in the riots were just taking advantage of the situation and were not rioting for the reasons we believe they were. The quiet protestors had expressed their opinion in a fair way, not fueling as much to the fire that there was. The riots also brought more attention to the situation.
yes, I think they need to
yes, I think they need to change. not just because of the racism, also it's how the polices handle the situation.
feeling some type of way
i feel like the officer got away with murder. you didn't have to take a boys life. but lets say MB was in the wrong and of course the officer feels threaten. how about shooting brown just so he is injured. but Mr. Wilson couldn't do that he had to take his life. Now lets switch this around, MB is now the officer who killed Wilson. his people would act the same way. but it seems to be more whites because our black men aren't shooting whites and getting away with it.SJ
Disagree
I disagree. Wilson said that MB tried to grab his gun. Put yourself in that situation, if someone was reaching for your gun your first instinct is to protect yourself. There are so many different sides to this story but I don't think that an officer would risk losing his job and life in jail because he wanted to kill a black man he didn't personally know because he was a "racist".
feeling some type of way
i feel like the officer got away with murder. you didn't have to take a boys life. but lets say MB was in the wrong and of course the officer feels threaten. how about shooting brown just so he is injured. but Mr. Wilson couldn't do that he had to take his life. Now lets switch this around, MB is now the officer who killed Wilson. his people would act the same way. but it seems to be more whites because our black men aren't shooting whites and getting away with it.SJ
Cameras
I think that changes shouldn't be made in the training for these police officers. If the officer did act inappropriately, it wasn't because of his training it was because of the situation he was put in. Why should the chief have to step down for this? There is no real proof about what happened but at the end of the day, the grand jury do their job well and they had a verdict not from opinion but the facts that they had to come to a conclusion. Therefore, I believe that the grand jury made the right decision. The only change that I think should happen is that police officers should start wearing cameras like Obama said to prevent issues like this getting out of hand.
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