The City of Ferguson and the Justice Department has reached a potential deal to revamp the Missouri city’s police department by changing the use of deadly force policies. The deal would also include ethics training and promoting diversity in ranking officers and officials.
USA Today reports.
The proposal, which must be ratified by the Ferguson City Council, comes 10 months after Justice’s denouncement of racially biased policing in the city detailed in a report that was prompted by the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old black man, by white officer Darren Wilson.
No criminal charges were filed against Wilson, who has since left the department, but the incident set off a national re-examination of law enforcement operations that continues more than 16 months after the shooting.
The agreement would, in part, revise the police department’s use of force policies with an emphasis “toward de-escalation and avoiding force — particularly deadly force — except where necessary, consistent with the full recognition of the sanctity of life,” according to a Justice letter to city officials, outlining the broad terms of the agreement.
The proposal also suggests that the Ferguson Police Department would have to hire more officers of color. As of now, only a scant number of officers on the force are Black in a majority Black city.
SOURCE: USA Today | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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Justice Department, Ferguson Officials Agree To Deal To Revamp Police Operations was originally published on newsone.com
