Ferguson police accused of systemic racial profiling

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused the police department in Ferguson, Missouri, of systemic exploitation and discrimination against black Americans — bringing international attention to racial profiling by U.S. law enforcement.

The report released Wednesday represents the long-awaited verdict of a DOJ investigation into Ferguson law enforcement. It was prompted by Officer Darren Wilson’s shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August and the global protests and outrage that ensued.

The report found that Ferguson had been relying upon fines collected by police as a revenue source. Rates of arrest, traffic stops and searches of black citizens were found to be disproportionately high.

The department also said that Wilson won’t be subject to charges of police misconduct.

“Michael Brown’s death, though a tragedy, did not involve prosecutable conduct on the part of Officer Darren Wilson,” said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Holder defended the impartial and thorough nature of the report on Wednesday.

“The promise that I made when I went to Ferguson, and at the time when we launched our investigation was not that we would arrive at a particular outcome, but rather that we would pursue the facts wherever they led,” he said.

UNC sophomore Madeleine Scanlon said she believes areas like UNC are sheltered from witnessing abuse by police.

“Just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t affecting homeless people on Franklin Street, poor people, people just waiting for the bus,” she said.

An EMT in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area, who asked to remain anonymous because he works with local police, said he believes that racial discrimination in law enforcement stretches far beyond Ferguson — including in the UNC community.

“I think that singling out Ferguson as a police department problem is kind of misleading when the problems affecting Ferguson are deeply rooted in every municipal police department in the country,” he said.

Frank Baumgartner, a UNC political science professor, said if Ferguson police do not improve their practices, the DOJ can bring a lawsuit.

“The case in Ferguson is extreme, especially in regard to low-level criminal fines being a main source of revenue for the government,” he said. “But it is not the only case.”

Baumgartner specifically mentioned that the DOJ also found the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department to be guilty of racial profiling.

UNC freshman Michelle Xia said she is not confident about reforms to the Ferguson police.

“It reeks to me of a formality, and as a forced reaction on their part to the public reaction to what happened in Ferguson,” she said.

UNC senior Chloe Griffin said she is troubled by the idea that racial profiling is specific to Ferguson police.

Griffin said that while she does not fear being harassed by police herself, she believes black and transgender people do face disproportionate aggression by law enforcement.

“As members of the community we have to hold them accountable.”

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