XPost: alt.fan.states.iowa, alt.fan.states.south-dakota, mn.politics   
   From: daily.negro@gazette.com   
      
   Police actions during protests in Ferguson, Mo., last August   
   helped antagonize crowds and violated free-speech rights,   
   according to the summary of a US Department of Justice report   
   obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.   
      
   The protests began after Darren Wilson, a white police officer,   
   shot Michael Brown, an unarmed young black man on Aug. 9, 2014.   
   The report looks at the way agencies responded in the first 16   
   days after the shooting.   
      
   The summary – from a longer report to be released later this   
   week – suggests that community unrest after the shooting of Mr.   
   Brown was exacerbated when law enforcement didn’t quickly   
   divulge details of his death.   
      
   “Had law enforcement released information on the officer-   
   involved shooting in a timely manner and continued the   
   information flow as it became available, community distrust and   
   media skepticism would most likely have been lessened,” the   
   summary reads, according to the Post-Dispatch.   
      
   The report also criticized “vague and arbitrary” orders to keep   
   protesters moving that “violated citizens’ right to assembly and   
   free speech.”   
      
   The summary also says that the use of dogs for crowd control   
   incited fear and anger – a practice the Justice Department says   
   ought to be prohibited – and that tear gas was sometimes used   
   without warning and on people in areas from which there was no   
   safe retreat, the paper reported.   
      
   The report also says that the authorities’ public relations   
   failings included not having a social media strategy. Police   
   “underestimated the impact social media had on the incident and   
   the speed at which both facts and rumors were spread,” the   
   report says.   
      
   The full report is expected to name about 45 findings, each   
   including a recommendation for improvement, according to the   
   Post-Dispatch. The report is also subject to revision, and will   
   be delivered this week to top police officials in Ferguson,   
   nearby St. Louis, St. Louis County, and the Missouri Highway   
   Patrol.   
      
   The summary reported inconsistencies in the way law enforcement   
   used force and made arrests.   
      
   “The four core agencies dedicated officer training and   
   operational and tactical skills without appropriate balance of   
   de-escalation and problem-solving training,” says the summary,   
   according to the Post-Dispatch.   
      
   The city of Ferguson issued a statement saying they are   
   “reviewing these latest findings and will act accordingly.”   
      
   St. Louis Chief Samuel Dotson told the Post-Dispatch he won’t   
   comment until he’s seen the whole report later this week.   
      
   “I don’t know if I agree with them or not, because I don’t have   
   enough information,” he told the paper.   
      
   This will be the third of four Justice Department reports   
   related to the Brown shooting and the law enforcement handling   
   of the community response. The first two reports were released   
   simultaneously in March – one saying Mr. Wilson was justified in   
   shooting Brown, the other criticizing past practices by the   
   Ferguson police and municipal court.   
      
   The fourth report is expected to come out this month, according   
   to the Post-Dispatch, and will analyze the St. Louis County   
   Police Department’s practices.   
      
   Both a grand jury and the Justice Department declined to   
   prosecute Wilson, who later resigned.   
      
   http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0630/DOJ-finds-   
   police-violated-citizens-rights-during-Ferguson-protests   
      
        
      
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