Probe of Ferguson police could spur broad change

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

As local authorities in Missouri near the end of their investigation in the Ferguson shooting, a broader federal civil-rights review could hold a greater potential to refashion the police department and bring long-lasting change.

While a St. Louis County grand jury investigates the Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, the Justice Department is investigating, too. More than two months into its probe of the Ferguson department’s practices, the civil-rights inquiry is focusing on use-of-force, stops and searches and possible patterns of discrimination in the ways that officers in the predominantly white department interact with the majority-black community.

Results are likely months away and may do little quickly to mollify the community. But whether or not officer Darren Wilson ends up facing state or federal criminal prosecution, the civil-rights investigation will continue. In similar cases, broad federal investigations of police departments have dictated changes in how officers carry out the most fundamental of tasks, from searching suspects to making traffic stops.

“If the end goal of this is to ensure that no one’s civil rights get violated, that everyone is treated decently and their constitutional rights are protected, the best thing that can come out of this is an overall look at the department,” said David Weinstein, a former federal civil-rights prosecutor in Miami.

Separately, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon introduced nine black and seven white members of the Ferguson Commission on Tuesday in St. Louis. The commission was created to study the underlying social and economic conditions underscored by unrest after the shooting of Brown. It will make recommendations in a report due by September 2015.