Ferguson council could soon accept DOJ reform deal

By Alan Scher Zagier

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

FERGUSON, Mo. _ The Ferguson City Council could soon accept a U.S. Justice Department plan to overhaul its embattled police force and municipal court system.

Elected leaders in the St. Louis suburb where the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement meet Tuesday night to consider final approval of the DOJ consent decree.

The agency and Ferguson reached a tentative agreement after months of negotiations. But the council rejected the plan in February over cost concerns, prompting the Justice Department to sue the next day.

City leaders have since said they expect to approve the deal after being assured the city won’t be required to provide its police officers with pay raises, a provision they feared could bankrupt Ferguson.