Focus on Making Money, Not Serving the Community
All of the Department of Justice’s findings reveal that Ferguson police were not interested in helping the community, but they also gave evidence that the real focus was on getting money — even if it meant violating the pockets of an already financially struggling community. The report found that the municipal court “primarily uses its judicial authority as the means to compel the payment of fines and fees that advance the City’s financial interests” in a way that was in clear violation of citizens’ rights. The report also confirmed that such practices disproportionately impacted Black residents in Ferguson and low-income families struggling to pay off various fines and tickets that were wrongfully issued to them.
Officers Weren’t Writing Up Reports; Supervisors Weren’t Checking
In another display that simply exemplified how corrupt the police department was, the report found that Ferguson officers were not only failing to write up their reports but that supervisors weren’t concerned with checking to ensure reports were properly filled out. Instead, the focus was on “the number of citations and arrests officers produce.” No consideration seemed to be given to figuring out whether or not those citations and arrests were “lawful or promote public safety” or if they were yet another racially charged attack on the Black community in Ferguson.
