The Department of Justice released a scathing, 100-page report on law enforcement in Ferguson, Missouri. According to the report, the City of Ferguson focuses on driving up revenue rather than on ensuring public safety, the police have exhibited a pattern of unconstitutional policing, which “reflect and exacerbate existing racial bias, including racial stereotypes,” and the abuse of police power was routine.
This is one of the harshest DOJ reports I’ve ever seen—all the more surprising because the DOJ typically investigates major metropolitan police forces (L.A., Newark, Cleveland), not small cities like Ferguson, which has a population of only 20,000 people. The Times has prepared a helpful annotation of the report, highlighting key parts.