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| Topic: DOJ agreement could cost Ferguson $3.7 million in first year | |
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DOJ agreement could cost Ferguson $3.7 million in first year.
FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Ferguson's cost of implementing reforms spelled out in a consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice could approach $4 million in the first year alone, according to new estimates that further raise questions about whether the community can afford it. February 08, 2016 The City Council in the St. Louis suburb is expected to decide Tuesday whether to adopt the agreement. If it doesn't do so, the Justice Department could file a federal civil rights lawsuit. Ferguson was thrust into the national spotlight after the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The community faces a high financial burden either way — fighting the lawsuit would likely cost millions of dollars. Brown, who was black and unarmed, was shot to death Aug. 9, 2014, by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during a confrontation in a street. The shooting sparked unrest, deepened scrutiny about police use of force and law enforcement's interactions with minorities, and led to a Justice Department investigation of Ferguson. Wilson, who later resigned, was ultimately cleared by the Justice Department. The agency concluded that evidence backed his claim that he shot Brown in self-defense after Brown first tried to grab the officer's gun during a struggle through the window of Wilson's police vehicle, then came toward him threateningly after briefly running away. A March report by the Justice Department was critical of police practices and a profit-driven municipal court system. After seven months of negotiations, a consent agreement was announced last month that envisions a top-to-bottom reshaping of basic practices such as how to conduct traffic stops and when to use force. Since then, estimates about how much it will cost were mostly guesswork, ranging from $500,000 to $1.5 million for the first year. But Ferguson officials on Monday posted an analysis on the city's website showing the cost estimate to be much higher — between $2.2 million and $3.7 million for the first year, and $1.8 million to $3 million in each of the second and third years. Ferguson already has a $2.8 million deficit due largely to fallout from the shooting — overtime costs for police during protests, lost sales tax revenue from businesses damaged in fires and looting, legal costs, lost income from municipal court reforms already in place. The consent agreement calls for Ferguson to pay the cost of a Justice Department monitor for at least three years; increase diversity training for officers; and purchase software and hire new staff to maintain statistical analysis of police data on arrests, traffic stops, use of force and other police actions. But Ferguson, with 21,000 residents, is far smaller than Cleveland or Albuquerque — and less able to absorb the cost. Ferguson's total annual operating budget is $14.5 million. The city is asking voters in April to approve property and sax tax increases. Even if both are approved, Knowles said, non-police job cuts may be necessary. Just me, but couldn't that money have been better spent on other things? 
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Child/Bathwater comes to mind!
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DOJ agreement could cost Ferguson $3.7 million in first year. FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — Ferguson's cost of implementing reforms spelled out in a consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice could approach $4 million in the first year alone, according to new estimates that further raise questions about whether the community can afford it. February 08, 2016 The City Council in the St. Louis suburb is expected to decide Tuesday whether to adopt the agreement. If it doesn't do so, the Justice Department could file a federal civil rights lawsuit. Ferguson was thrust into the national spotlight after the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown. The community faces a high financial burden either way — fighting the lawsuit would likely cost millions of dollars. Brown, who was black and unarmed, was shot to death Aug. 9, 2014, by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson during a confrontation in a street. The shooting sparked unrest, deepened scrutiny about police use of force and law enforcement's interactions with minorities, and led to a Justice Department investigation of Ferguson. Wilson, who later resigned, was ultimately cleared by the Justice Department. The agency concluded that evidence backed his claim that he shot Brown in self-defense after Brown first tried to grab the officer's gun during a struggle through the window of Wilson's police vehicle, then came toward him threateningly after briefly running away. A March report by the Justice Department was critical of police practices and a profit-driven municipal court system. After seven months of negotiations, a consent agreement was announced last month that envisions a top-to-bottom reshaping of basic practices such as how to conduct traffic stops and when to use force. Since then, estimates about how much it will cost were mostly guesswork, ranging from $500,000 to $1.5 million for the first year. But Ferguson officials on Monday posted an analysis on the city's website showing the cost estimate to be much higher — between $2.2 million and $3.7 million for the first year, and $1.8 million to $3 million in each of the second and third years. Ferguson already has a $2.8 million deficit due largely to fallout from the shooting — overtime costs for police during protests, lost sales tax revenue from businesses damaged in fires and looting, legal costs, lost income from municipal court reforms already in place. The consent agreement calls for Ferguson to pay the cost of a Justice Department monitor for at least three years; increase diversity training for officers; and purchase software and hire new staff to maintain statistical analysis of police data on arrests, traffic stops, use of force and other police actions. But Ferguson, with 21,000 residents, is far smaller than Cleveland or Albuquerque — and less able to absorb the cost. Ferguson's total annual operating budget is $14.5 million. The city is asking voters in April to approve property and sax tax increases. Even if both are approved, Knowles said, non-police job cuts may be necessary. Just me, but couldn't that money have been better spent on other things?
And to think this was all perpetrated from a big lie "hands up don't shoot". Everyday our country becomes more like Fantasy Island and less of what made our country so much better then the rest of the world. |
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Ferguson’s Justice… For & Paid by The People - DOJ Is RIDICULOUS
http://youtu.be/QgswhrdX1J0/ 06:55 February 10, 2016 Oh .. Loretta Lynch 
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well,someone is going to "profit" from that,and it won't be those who are paying for it!
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well,someone is going to "profit" from that,and it won't be those who are paying for it! I think it is a disgrace. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. |
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What I don't understand is that lawyers have the ability to drag out litigation for very long periods. Why didn't Ferguson's attorneys delay any agreement until the next election where the Justice Dept MAY change to have a much different perspective?
One can only hope. |
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Ferguson's city government should resign, dissolve, close their city services and walk away. Leave it to the looters and street thugs. Funny, the DOJ can sue a city but can't indict a criminal like Hilliary. 
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Ferguson's city government should resign, dissolve, close their city services and walk away. Leave it to the looters and street thugs. Funny, the DOJ can sue a city but can't indict a criminal like Hilliary.
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