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 The probe is the second federal investigation spurred by Brown's
death at the hands of police officer Darren Wilson, which sparked
days of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson. The Justice
Department is simultaneously investigating possible criminal charges
against the police officer who shot Brown.
Attorney General Eric Holder, who visited Ferguson after the
shooting, said residents there "consistently expressed concerns" and
"deep mistrust" of the police, prompting the federal investigation.
Holder said he has not ruled out widening the investigation into
other jurisdictions in the Ferguson area, including St. Louis
County. Civil rights groups have called for a broader investigation.
The probe will examine how the Ferguson police use force, conduct
stops, searches and arrests, how they treat detainees, and whether
they engage in discriminatory practices, said Molly Moran, assistant
attorney general for the civil rights division.
Brown's family said they were encouraged by the launch of the
investigation.
"We believe that transparency in law enforcement is the only way to
build trust in the community, not just in the killing of Michael
Brown, but for others who have suffered as well," said Benjamin
Crump, a lawyer for the Brown family, in a statement.
Civil rights groups have called on the Justice Department to
investigate whether Brown's shooting was motivated by racism, a
problem that protesters in Ferguson say is systemic in the police
department.
Wilson's defenders say the officer was acting in self defense during
an altercation with Brown.
Protests in Ferguson have been muted since last week. There are
still small, ongoing peaceful demonstrations calling for the local
prosecutor in the case to step down.
The Justice Department's civil rights division, which is leading
both investigations, has typically been more successful in bringing
civil charges against entire police departments rather than criminal
charges against individual officers.
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While prosecutors would have to show Wilson intentionally used
excessive force against Brown to bring criminal charges, a civil
investigation could bring court-enforceable changes to any patterns
and practices deemed a potential threat to civil rights.
Most recently, police departments in Detroit, Michigan, and
Albuquerque, New Mexico, agreed to measures put in place by the
civil rights division to address use of force and detention
practices and unreasonable use of deadly force, respectively.
The outcome of federal intervention is hard to quantify, said former
civil rights division lawyer Michael Selmi.
Selmi pointed to the Justice Department's intervention in the Los
Angeles Police Department in 2001, which lasted 13 years. "Is there
less police abuse in L.A.? Hopefully. Is that a result of the
agreement with the Justice Department? That's really hard to know,"
Selmi said.
(Reporting By Julia Edwards; Additional reporting by Aruna
Viswanatha in Washington and Cary Gillam in Kansas City; Editing by
John Whitesides and Cynthia Osterman)
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