Reforms demanded in Ferguson, Mo. after U.S. probe finds racially biased policing

WASHINGTON - Sweeping reforms are needed in Ferguson, Missouri, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday after a federal investigation found broad racial bias in the city's police force and municipal court system but cleared a white officer in the killing of an unarmed black teenager last August.

The Justice Department said after a monthslong investigation it had determined the fatal Aug. 9 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson 'lacks prosecutive merit.”

But the department said it found 'a pattern or practice of unlawful conduct within the Ferguson Police Department” that is driven in part by racial bias, but also by the city's focus on raising revenue through tickets and court fees rather than on public safety.

'This emphasis on revenue has compromised the institutional character of Ferguson's police department, contributing to a pattern of unconstitutional policing,” the Justice Department report said.

The federal investigation of the mostly white Ferguson police department came after Brown's killing sparked nationwide protests and amplified long-standing complaints in Ferguson and around the country of police harassment and mistreatment of minorities.

There have been repeated calls from protesters, civil rights attorneys and some state and federal lawmakers for Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson to step down. Those demands were renewed with the Justice Department findings.

'I don't think any African-American who is familiar with Ferguson will be surprised at the report,” said U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Missouri who said he was briefed by the White House on the findings.

Cleaver said the Ferguson report should be viewed by cities across the country as a wake-up call.

'This is valuable information to people who prefer to believe that any claim of discrimination is simply playing the race card,” Cleaver said.

Ferguson spokesman Jeff Small said city officials would hold a news conference later Wednesday afternoon to discuss their response to the report. Jackson and other city officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The Justice Department report said Ferguson police conduct stops without reasonable suspicion and make arrests without probable cause. It said African-Americans in Ferguson were more likely to be charged with petty offenses and held longer in jail than other people.

In addition, the Justice Department said it found direct evidence of racial bias and stereotyping in multiple emails sent by Ferguson police and municipal court officials, according to people familiar with the report.

Jeff Roorda, a spokesman for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, said there were many factors involved and he wanted to avoid a 'rush to judgment.”

Rather than blaming racial bias, there should be a 'mature, frank conversation in the country about why kids like Michael Brown ... end up in deadly confrontations with police,” Roorda said.

In declining to prosecute Wilson, the Justice Department said Wilson stated that he shot Brown in response to a perceived deadly threat and said there was no credible evidence the officer broke the law in firing on Brown.