Mea Culpa to the Obama Justice Dept. on Ferguson
...on an issue very important to me; the Ferguson police department.
I'm as bummed as anyone about the failure of the Justice Dept to find enough evidence under the law to prosecute Darren Wilson. I still believe there was enough misconduct in the grand jury to warrant a new one or an independent investigation and prosecution. That said, there's more than a small amount of hope that the Justice Dept's investigation and report on the practices, policy, and conduct of the Ferguson PD will produce significant change in that town. It appears, from the steady stream of resignations occurring that change is underway; in no small part initiated by the Obama Justice Dept's extensive and comprehensive report finding systemic racism, violence, and corruption from the police to the courts.
We all know that NONE of the efforts to address the corrupt system in Ferguson would have occurred without the persistent and unflagging protesting efforts from citizens there, and from others who rallied to their cause. Those protests are still ongoing and I don't expect them to end until that town is secure and safe in the knowledge that the black community isn't being targeted disproportionately. Police killings of black Americans are still continuing around the country (and in Ferguson) at an unacceptable rate and reasoning. Shifting the administration needs to be accompanied by real, concrete, and lasting reforms which produce actual results; not just window dressing.
That said, I was one of many who expressed skepticism that the administration intended to do much more than offer lip service to the town and provide cover for ongoing abuses and criminality by the police and courts in Ferguson. The report which Eric Holder presented was dead-on and directly targeted in its investigation and in its conclusions. That report sparked a number of resignations which, not coincidentally, didn't occur until its release and promise of federal lawsuits to enforce its findings and orders. That threat of Justice Dept. action is still looming and likely.
The hammer of the justice that President Obama promised Ferguson still hangs over their heads. For that I'm greatly appreciative and I congratulate them for their efforts. This is really less of an apology for my complaints, than it is a mea culpa for my cynicism that anything produced would be transformational. Today we saw the resignation of Ferguson's City Manager. That office is responsible for the hiring and firing of the police chief, under their charter. The City Council had been unwilling to act and the Justice dept. report and threat evidently moved that exit along. To me, that's a sure sign that things are changing in the system for the better.
Keep the pressure on, but give a bit of praise for the attention and action of the Obama administration in moving forward with legal action. Kudos to the President and his Attorney General!
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