Ferguson Ruled By Bullyboy Racists In Uniform

Being black and living in Ferguson must be terrifying, if even half of what is in this Justice Department report is true.

A predominantly white police force is documented acting with tyrannical disregard for even its own principles, let alone the law.

Women are tasered for refusing to remove bracelets while in custody. A 14-year-old boy has a dog set on him because police said he refused to show his hands.

A man is set upon by goonish officers and thrown to the ground for standing up for his right not to identify himself.

It paints a picture of an America many hoped had long gone.

An America where black people are persecuted by bullyboy racists in uniform.

For instance, the police officer who interrupted a man sitting in his car catching his breath after a game of basketball.

The report says: "Without any cause, the officer accused the man of being a paedophile, referring to the presence of children in the park, and ordered the man out of his car for a pat-down, although the officer had no reason to believe the man was armed."

Then came the trumped-up charges, most outrageously: "Making a false declaration", because the man gave the short-form of his first name, "Mike" instead of Michael.

He lost his job as a result of his encounter with the police officer.

The institutionalised racism of Ferguson's police force is documented in page after page.

African Americans account for 85% of vehicle stops, 90% of citations, and 93% of arrests made by Ferguson Police Department officers, despite comprising only 67% of Ferguson's population.

Police issued tickets for "manner of walking in roadway", essentially jaywalking.

Then there are the infamous racist jokes emailed around by city officials.

Heard the one about the pregnant African-American woman sent a Crimestoppers cheque for having an abortion?

But there's another reason why the police are so oppressive to black people in Ferguson, quite apart from their alleged racism.

It pays.

And in Ferguson it seems to have become the basis for an entire revenue system.

The town's poor black majority are being milked of their cash whichever way the city's authorities can find.

So police roam the streets to find any excuse to stop people and run their ID, hoping to find outstanding warrants.

Demeanours too minor to wind up in court anywhere else do so routinely in Ferguson, where a three-hour court session can hear anywhere between 1,200 and 2,000 offences.

"Wonderful," one official emails the police chief after hearing how many citations have been served and the fines they've brought in.

"Awesome," celebrates another.

There is very little community service ordered in Ferguson, says the report.

There's no margin in that for the cash-hungry city authorities.

And the report goes on .

It has only come to light because of the investigative resources a federal investigation can bring to bear.

It begs the question what would the same scrutiny unearth in other parts of the country if the same happened there.