U.S. Justice Dept. reaches proposed deal with Ferguson on policing

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the city of Ferguson on Wednesday released a consent agreement after seven months of negotiations following protests against policing.

A filed settlement reached between the two sides states that all Ferguson Police Department (FPD) patrol officers, patrol supervisors, jail personnel, and other FPD employees reasonably expected to regularly interact with the public will be required to wear body cameras, and this regulation will take effect 180 day after the agreement is accepted.

The agreement also touches on policing in Ferguson, saying the City of Ferguson agrees to continue to change how Ferguson Police Department polices, and how it enforces the Ferguson Municipal Code and resolves municipal charges.

Other points in the agreement include amnesty for minor court cases that are more than two years old, and more hiring checks when hiring officers.

The city of Ferguson has also been required to recruit a more diverse force, as only a few of the more than 50-officer force in Ferguson are African American against the backdrop that nearly 70 percent of the city's population is black.

Ferguson has released a statement on the same day saying the agreement, if approved, will avoid the time and cost of litigation and allow the city to continue its focus on constitutional policing and court practices.

The city plans to hold three public hearings in early February, when people can make comments about the proposed agreement.

Ferguson in Missouri came into the spotlight for controversial policing in 2014 when a white police officer fatally shot an African American teenager. The U.S. Justice Department described Ferguson as a city where the police department and court operated as a single moneymaking venture in a report released in 2015, as police officers in the city stopped and arrested people without cause and used excessive force almost exclusively against African-Americans. Enditem