Ferguson: Eric Holder Threatens To Disband Police Department Over Alleged Racism


The Ferguson report and its claims of racism inside the department have prompted Eric Holder to threaten to disband the force. During a press conference, the attorney general said the Justice Department was prepared to do “what is necessary” to “fix” the Missouri police department where Darren Wilson used to work.

Eric Holder’s Ferguson report maintains that the police department used excessive force on a regular basis and noted that 93 percent of arrests were of black people. According to the most recent census date, the St. Louis suburb where Michael Brown was shot after a strong-arm robbery and confrontation with Darren Wilson is 67.4 percent African American. A total of 31.5 percent of the homes, which included children in Ferguson, were female head of households with no male present. Households with children in the city comprise 39.1 percent of the population. In Ferguson, 24.9 percent of the population is living below the poverty level.

President Barack Obama deemed the Ferguson police department “broken and racially biased” and in need of a “fix” by the federal government. When speaking to reporters in front of Air Force One during a stop in Maryland, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said that his agency was willing to do “everything from working with them to coming up with an entirely new structure,” in reference to what the Justice Department has planned for the Ferguson Police Department.

When asked if “everything” within his power included completely dismantling and disbanding the local police force in the state of Missouri, Eric Holder said, “‘If that’s what’s necessary, we’re prepared to do that.”

The comment sent shockwaves through police departments across American and ignited a states rights debate. If the federal government is willing to eradicate a police force in one city because of claims or racial bias and a perception of abusive of power when collecting fines and issuing tickets, could such actions become a trend and lead to the creation of a nationalized police force?

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder also had this to say about the Ferguson report and plans for the department.

“The notion that you would use a law enforcement agency or law enforcement generally to generate revenue, and then the callous way in which that was done and the impact that it had on the lives of the ordinary citizens of that municipality, was just appalling. Appalling. And that is not something that we’re going to tolerate.”

What do you think should happen to the Ferguson Police Department?

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