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.
Alwin Marshall-Squire is the Editor-in-Chief of S-Q Publications Inc., overseeing editorial strategy for GTA Weekly, GTA Today, and Vision Newspaper. He leads the publications’ mission to deliver bold, original journalism focused on the people and communities of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and the global Caribbean diaspora.
Also writes for GTA Weekly and GTA Today.
