Kimberly Hoskin and her mother Loistine grabbed a number and stood in line Wednesday night to make their formal complaint about the Ferguson Police Department.
Being lifelong Ferguson residents, they had a file folder completely full of documents that pointed to police malpractice – and they couldn’t wait to share it with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, special litigation section. More than 250 people attended a Wednesday meeting at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, where the DOJ division explained their investigation into the Ferguson police and other local agencies. The group of 11 division representatives stayed at the college until they listened to every resident who attended.
“We are excited about the DOJ being here so we can finally share our story,” said Kimberly, a 34-year-old customer service representative for a high-end department store. “It’s been simmering for a while, and now it’s boiling over.”
Christy Lopez, with the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, explained that they are not involved with the DOJ’s criminal investigation into the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teen who was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. Lopez said, “It’s difficult to prosecute a police officer under the civil rights statute.” However, there’s a statute that looks into patterns or practices of police misconduct, and that’s what Lopez and her team have been investigating in Ferguson for the past three weeks.
“We go in and try to figure out, is it happening? Is it a pattern?” Lopez said. “And is it violating people’s constitutional rights? Most importantly, how can we make it stop?”
The team has been reading through documents and police reports, but they want to hear from residents.
“The description of the incident can say one thing, but we need to hear from you,” Lopez said. “What happened? What did you experience?”
After they’ve gathered all the information, they will compile a report with their findings and potential remedies, which they will negotiate with the police agencies. Lopez said it’s often necessary to have a consent decree – a court document that forces police to agree to make changes.
One of the things Lopez’s team heard at the recent Ferguson City Council meetings was that officers were not wearing nameplates. The division has already written a letter to Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson stating that the department has a policy that officers need to wear name badges, and officers need to follow that policy.
“People need to know who their officers are,” Lopez said.
The DOJ representatives were not only gathering information about Ferguson police at the meeting. Regina Jansen, senior trial attorney with the division, said the DOJ also has an open investigation of the St. Louis County family court system, where they are investigating whether the juvenile court is treating all defendants fairly regardless of race.
Anurima Bharagava, with the division’s Educational Opportunities Section, was there to hear stories about the local school districts, and whether or not students’ civil rights are being enforced. Several DOJ reps listened to residents’ experiences with the St. Louis County Police, particularly during the protests in Ferguson.
Several audience members wanted to know more about criminal investigation regarding Michael Brown’s death and the likelihood that the DOJ would bring federal charges against Police Officer Darren Wilson. Lopez said the criminal investigation is “narrow and has difficult standards to reach, which is why we’re pursuing these additional avenues.”
Kimberly Hoskin said she was not surprised to hear about Brown’s death and the unrest that followed.
“Ten years ago, we could have told you that they are going to kill someone and there’s going to be a problem because Ferguson does what they want,” she said.
Kimberly said about 10 years ago, she was consistently harassed by one police officer, who is no longer on the force. She would get pulled over coming home from work for small traffic offenses that didn’t make sense, she said. Many times she would not go to court because she knew they were putting people in jail if they couldn’t pay their fines on their court dates, she said. And often times, she couldn’t pay the fines.
“I was blessed to have my mom and my dad,” she said. “My dad came in and paid for my warrants. I was one of the lucky people because I had someone to pay my way out.”
However after her father died, her mother Loistine had a lot to deal with. One day, the police arrested and jailed Loistine for four hours because of “failure to appear” in court. However, they never told her what the charges were originally for. She appealed, and her appeal was mysteriously lost.
“We attempted to file a complaint against police but nothing ever came out of it,” Kimberly said. “We attempted to get an attorney and they said that they don’t go up against Ferguson.”
The division will continue their investigation allegations that Ferguson Police Department officers use excessive force, including unreasonable deadly force; violate the law in how they stop, search, and arrest citizens; violate the constitutional rights of Ferguson jail detainees; and engage in discriminatory policing practices. Related to these issues, the investigation will consider Ferguson’s citation and municipal court system.
If you were not able to attend the meeting, the Department Of Justice is asking to be contacted at: Community.Ferguson@usdoj.gov or 1-855-856-2132.
