Later today, the Ferguson City Council will meet to vote on a consent decree released by the Department of Justice (DOJ) after an investigation turned up evidence of civil rights violations. The document is a temporary agreement between the DOJ and the city of Ferguson, Missouri, that requires the city to reform its training, protocol, and community relations in order to avoid facing a lawsuit. The DOJ released the 131-page document late last month, giving the city council and the people of Ferguson just two weeks to review it.
The major concern now is cost, especially in a city where almost one-fourth of the residents are below the poverty line. As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: "Ferguson, which has an annual operating budget of $14.5 million, released the proposal on Jan. 27. Since then, each estimate of the expense of carrying it out has climbed—from yearly costs of $800,000 to $1.5 million to $3.7 million."
[For more of this story, written by Allison Shapiro, go to http://www.psmag.com/politics-...fix-its-police-force]
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