The document summarizes a report by the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigating the Ferguson Police Department. The DOJ found numerous issues including a focus on revenue generation over public safety, violations of citizens' constitutional rights, lack of accountability for police misconduct, and disproportionate impact on African Americans. These problems undermined public trust in the police. To address this, the DOJ called for reorienting law enforcement policies and practices to focus on community policing, treating all citizens equally and with compassion.

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Marcos Corley
University of Texas at Arlington

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Abstract
This essay provides an in depth review of the report filed by the Department of Justice,
following their investigation of the Ferguson Police Department this year. It begins with
an overview of all the problems that DOJ brought to light throughout the course of their
investigation. Leading to an analysis of how these problems impact police legitimacy and
authority as well as police use-of-force. Finally addressing the implications of police, the
criminal justice system, and what needs to be done about policy regarding use of force in
the future.

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In order for people to coexist under any system of government, there has to be
some sort of enforcement to maintain the structure that keeps a civilization running.
Whether this is achieved by military style policing of a people under dictatorships and
monarchies or the structured law enforcement seen in western countries today, every
system of government needs someone to enforce it. Unfortunately, the people that are
selected to wield this authority are susceptible to the same shortcomings as the people
they are enforcing the law on. Recent examples of police officers abusing their authority
and breaking the very laws they have sworn to protect, can be seen in the Department of
Justice’ report on their investigation of the Ferguson Police Department. The implications
of the discoveries made throughout the course of this investigation are colossal. In the
first half of the report there is an outline of some of the police and court practices that
were found to be in violation of people’s constitutional rights. To fully grasp the nature of
these violations there needs to be a summary of the practices in particular, leading to
some analysis as to why these issues are significant to police legitimacy, authority, and
police use of force, finally leading the necessary response to these implication in respect
to their impact on policing, the criminal justice system, and future use-of-force policies.
One of the biggest faults plaguing police departments in The United States today
is the continued focus on generating revenue. If police officers are pressured by threat of
punishment or promise of reward, it puts a heavy slant in the officer’s minds on the
legitimacy of stops, justifying actions that would normally not be viewed as just to the
officer. The city of Ferguson budgets its finances around the premise of having increased
revenue from tickets and court fines each year. The report specifically stated that in 2010
the cities finance director put direct pressure on the chief of police to make try to ensure a

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5% increase in ticket writing (DOJ, 2015). This as well as promotions only offered to
officers based on “productivity” (implying ticket writing) gives the officers for this
department no real option in how they plan to go about doing their jobs. This type of
policing leads to a direct decline in public safety because it is not the concern the officers
hold when aggressively enforcing municipal code.
The issue of departmental focus on revenue is the cornerstone for the other
problems that plague the department. The disregard for public safety mentioned before
manifests itself in the form of dealing with a subject that has mental illness, immediately
identifying them as belligerent and a possible threat. Not only is there a clear disinterest
in public safety, the race to write the most tickets has also caused an array of corners to
be cut when it comes to the legal protection the constitution offers the people of
Ferguson. Officers violate the Fourth Amendment in stopping people without reasonable
suspicion, arresting them without probable cause, and using unreasonable force. Officers
frequently infringe on residents’ First Amendment rights, interfering with their right to
record police activities and making enforcement decisions based on the content of
individuals’ expression (DOJ, 2015).
To couple the infringements on people’s rights, the city of Ferguson has also
made clear leaps and bound in order to prevent officers from being held responsible when
they break the law. Gathering the data required by law on stops involving another
vehicle, there is a convenient lack of data on person-to-person stops even though the
department has the technology to acquire it. Evidence also show that there are many
cases of use-of force that are simply not written, and if they are there are so many
complied at one time that they are not generally reviewed to the proper capacity.

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The practices of the municipal court in Ferguson are no different in their legal
nature, than those of the police force. Due to the same foundational problem of being
focused on revenue, the courts enable the conduct of the officers while conducting illegal
activity of their own. The courts specifically have enacted policies that violated the 14th
amendment providing equal protection. This is mainly due to their unacceptable use of
fines to oppress the people of Ferguson. With fines being tacked on with every missed
payment and appearance, along with the added law failure to appear in court will result in
license suspension until the full amount of the fine is paid, there is undue strain on people
for minor traffic infractions. Public safety appears to be the furthest thing from the
operations of the courts. With the majority of arrest warrants being issued by the courts
are for failure to appear on a traffic violation there is indication that justice is not what
the court seeks in those matters (DOJ, 2015).
This twisting of justice in all of the above manners has in turn lead to a heavier
impact on the African-American community in Ferguson. Between the 2012 and 2014 the
documented cases show that African American members of the community make up 85%
of vehicle stops, 90% of citations, as well as 93% of arrests made, despite only 67% of
the population being African American. The reports go on to show that 90% of the
department’s use of force reports involved an African American, and in every canine bite
incident with information available the subject was black (DOJ, 2015).
All of these problems have serious implications for the publics trust of the police,
which in turn lead to an impact on the department’s legitimate authority. As stated before
the general concept of police authority in America is founded directly in public views on
how capable officers are at upholding the law. The consequences of these specific

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policies and their significance to police legitimacy were made evident in the community
response to the 2014 officer shooting of Michael Brown. While the police department
itself claims that the public response was mainly due to “outside agitators” and not
reflective of actual members of the community. The evidence logged by the Department
of Justice contrasts directly with this claim. The manner in which the court and police
department work together to extract the most money from citizens with no accountability
and no clear concern for public safety has lead to an environment where the majority of
the public views the police as having no real legitimacy and therefore faulty claims to
authority (DOJ, 2015). All of the community policing directives that the department had
originally implemented slowly dissolved with the increase focus on financial gain,
leaving many neighborhoods relationship with the police seemingly irreparable.
One of the most significant implications this break down in police legitimacy in
the public’s eye is the desire in the future for people to defy that authority they view as
faulty. Overwhelming evidence shows that the placement an officer holds on the use of
force continuum is directly related to how defiant a subject is or how significantly their
authority has come into question. Because the police still hold the power vested in them
by the state they are commissioned in, they often feel the need to respond to an
undermining of their authority by escalating in their use of force to reassert dominance
over a situation. The problem than becomes an increased negative opinion creating a
cyclical negative relationship until an outburst occurs like the incident with Michael
Brown.
With all of that in mind, it is easy to see that effective policing is impossible
without some kind of change. The criminal justice system in the city of Ferguson needs to

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be reconfigured from the ground up in order to fix the issue of ineffective policing, this
includes the policies held by the municipal courts and extends to some laws held by the
state. The Department of Justice asserted that restoring trust in law enforcement will
require a recognition of the harms that have been done by Ferguson’s law enforcement
practices as well as diligent, committed collaboration with the entire community. The
Department of Justice stated with finality that in order to address the constitutional
deficiencies there is a demand for departmental reorientation for all law enforcement
entities. This change along with a dissolving of the previous policies of revenue driven
policing, in favor of a system grounded in the principles of community policing and
police legitimacy will lead to a more sound community in which people are treated
equally and with compassion, regardless of race (DOJ, 2015).
In conclusion, police legitimacy in the United States has been an issue the public
has wrestled with for some time. Society has finally progressed to the point where harms
are being identified and dealt with through policy change; with an effort to increase
community oriented policing. Evidence of this can be seen in the scathing report filed by
the Department of Justice following their investigation. The process of how change was
facilitated through this report began with an outline of all the issues that were uncovered
in the investigation. Following that, analysis was drawn as to how these problems have
significantly impacted police legitimacy in Ferguson. Finally, drawing a conclusion of
how the system must be repaired and facilitated in the future to avoid the harms of an
illegitimate system which is the breeding ground for violence between the police and
members of the community.

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References
The United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. (2015).
Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department.
http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-
releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf