Ferguson chief stays after U.S. police-bias findings

ST. LOUIS — Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson was still on the job Friday, two days after a government report blasted his department for years of racial profiling, and the mayor refused to speculate about the chief’s future, saying his role was not to “just chop heads.”

Meanwhile, three Ferguson employees whose racially biased emails were exposed by that report are now gone from their jobs, the mayor said. One was identified as a city court clerk.

Calls for Jackson’s removal were renewed again this week after the Justice Department cleared white former officer Darren Wilson of federal civil-rights charges in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black and unarmed.

A second report released simultaneously found patterns of racial profiling, bigotry and profit-driven law enforcement and court practices in the St. Louis suburb, which has come to represent the tension between minority groups and police nationwide.

Asked about Jackson, Mayor James Knowles III said only, “He’s still the chief.”

Knowles said city leaders are evaluating the Justice Department report “line by line” before deciding on changes. His focus now is on understanding the report, then moving forward with whatever changes are needed.

“I’m not here to just chop heads,” Knowles said. “We have to evaluate everything in the report, pick out what are the systemic issues and what are the things we can fix.”

Some civil-rights leaders and lawmakers have called for Jackson to resign or be fired. Jackson did not respond to interview requests Friday but repeatedly has said he would not step down.

Ferguson city leaders will meet with Justice Department officials in about two weeks and provide a plan for improving the police force and the municipal court system, Knowles said.

“They want to hear what we will do,” Knowles said. “We’re going to hopefully work out some sort of agreement and we’ll move forward.

“We’ve got to come up with solutions now,” Knowles said.

The report uncovered racially biased emails from several city employees, including some that belittled black residents or President Barack Obama. A 2008 email said Obama would not be president for long because “what black man holds a steady job for four years,” while another depicted Obama as a chimpanzee.

In his most expansive comments yet about the Justice Department’s report, Obama said Friday that the police situation in Ferguson was “oppressive and abusive.”

The president said it was striking that investigators merely had to look at email sent by police officials to find evidence of bias and that the city now must make a decision about how to move forward.

Knowles said three employees responsible for the emails ended their employment with the city Thursday. He declined to say whether they were fired or resigned, and he would not provide their names or titles.

But Ferguson city spokesman Jeff Small identified one of the employees as court clerk Mary Ann Twitty, who was fired. He said the other two employees worked for the Police Department, but he did not name them. A message left for Twitty was not returned.

The mayor said he first learned of the emails Wednesday after meeting with Justice Department officials in St. Louis. He said he was so incensed that he ordered the accounts of all three employees disabled while he was in the car returning to Ferguson after the meeting.

Knowles said there was no evidence that Jackson or other police administrators were aware of the emails.

The Justice Department report on the Police Department found that black drivers were more than twice as likely as others to be searched during routine traffic stops. Minority residents bear the burden of fines and court costs expected to generate $3 million this fiscal year. Black residents were more likely to face excessive force from police, often during unwarranted stops.

Some have called on the city to dissolve the 54-officer police force and allow either St. Louis County or a neighboring municipality to take over patrols. Knowles said there is “zero” percent chance of that happening.

“I don’t say that defiantly,” he said. “Our people [residents] have been asking us to keep our own department and for the citizens to have input in making changes.”

Knowles said he was disappointed that Justice Department officials waited until releasing the report to advise him and other city leaders of some of the problems.

“There’s a lot of things they could have told us sooner and we would have dealt with it,” he said.

Still, he said, it is clear that his community will benefit from the scrutiny.

“Ferguson is going to end up being reformed,” Knowles said. “You can’t draw any conclusion other than Ferguson will be better after this.”