Case shows pace of change is sluggish in Ferguson

FERGUSON, Mo. — When the Justice Department issued a scathing report that detailed routine civil rights violations by the police and courts here after an officer fatally shot Michael Brown in 2014, one anecdote generated particular outrage.

A black man was sitting in his car in a Ferguson park when a police officer drew his gun on him. The officer searched the man’s car without permission and wrote him more than half a dozen tickets, including for lacking a vehicle inspection sticker and not wearing a seat belt, even though the car was parked.

The episode, which occurred in 2012, helped spur the city to agree to criminal justice reform, and, along with the Brown case, prompted a federal consent decree with the Justice Department in 2016.

But five years after the arrest, Ferguson continues to prosecute the man, Fred Watson, even as it struggles to repair its image as a city that has been unfair, and at times hostile, toward African-americans.

“When does it stop?” Watson, who lost his job as a defense contractor after the arrest, said through tears during a recent interview. “This goes way beyond me. This practice has got to stop.”

The continued prosecution of Watson, 37, has raised questions among some residents about how serious Ferguson is about reform. The shooting death of Brown brought scrutiny not only on the frequency of police officers’ use of force against unarmed African-americans, but also on Ferguson’s municipal court system and the practice, nationwide, of employing courts to bring in revenue through fines and fees.

Criminal justice officials in Ferguson would not discuss why the prosecution of Watson had moved forward, despite what appear to be numerous problems with the case.

City officials, however, say Ferguson