WASHINGTON — A Justice Department review has found that Missouri's troubled Ferguson Police Department
engaged in a pattern of racially biased enforcement when stopping suspects and were more likely to use unreasonable force against African-American suspects, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the findings.
In 88% of cases in which Ferguson police documented the use of force, that force was used against African Americans, according to the official who is not authorized to comment publicly. In addition, in all 14 canine bite incidents in which the suspect's race is known, the person bitten was African American.
African Americans account for 67% of the population in Ferguson, but they accounted for 85% of the drivers stopped by police, 90% of the people issued tickets and 93% of the people arrested, a three-year examination of suspect stops found.
African Americans were more than
twice as likely than white drivers to be searched during vehicle stops, but 26% less likely to have contraband, the review found.
The Ferguson Police Department often charged its black residents with petty crimes. African Americans accounted for 95% of the people charged with walking in the street and 92% of people charged with disturbing the peace.
Investigators also found racist e-mails sent among employees of the police department and the Ferguson Municipal Court, including stereotyping jokes about black men being unemployed and black women giving birth to criminals.
The Justice findings, while not unexpected, come six months after the fatal shooting of a black teenager by then-Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson.
The
full Justice Department report, which could be disclosed Wednesday, is the result of a broad examination of policing in Ferguson where the August shooting of Michael Brown prompted waves of protest across the country and a re-examination of law enforcement's relationships with minority communities.
"This confirms what we have previously stated, that the actions of the killer of Michael Brown had to do with a systemic problem within the Ferguson Police Department," Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Brown's family, said. "The report shows that there were others treated inappropriately like we feel Mike Brown was treated inappropriately."
Similar cases in other cities indicate such problems are widespread, Crump said.
"We have to work on a remedy to address this multi-city, multi-state epidemic all across America that has such adverse effects on communities of color and that is taking the lives of citizens," he said.
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