article_snippet: The U.S. Justice Department has concluded that the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices, a law enforcement official familiar with The U.S. Justice Department's findings said on Tuesday.
article_snippet: The investigation into The U.S. Justice Department began in August after the shooting of unarmed African-American teen Michael Brown by a white police officer in Ferguson sparked national protests.
article_snippet: Analysis of more than 35,000 pages of police records found racist comments from officers as well as statistics that showed African-Americans make up 93 percent of arrests while accounting for only 67 percent of the population in Ferguson, the Ferguson, Missouri, police department routinely engages in racially biased practices, a law enforcement official familiar with the department's findings said.
article_snippet: A The U.S. Justice Department investigation has found patterns of racial bias in The U.S. Justice Department Ferguson and at the municipal jail and court.
article_snippet: Nationwide protests of police actions that resulted in deaths of African Americans in Ferguson, New York and Cleveland laid bare racial tensions and what President BarackObama called 'simmering distrust' between police and communities.
article_snippet: The U.S. Justice Department staff interviewed hundreds of average citizens as part of the six-month probe, concluding that a large portion of Ferguson's population mistrusts the local police force and considers a large portion of Ferguson's population illegitimate .
article_snippet: The U.S. Justice Department will use The findings to negotiate policy changes with Ferguson officials and enter a consent decree, or to sue the city to force change.
article_snippet: Previous federal investigations into police departments have resulted in such changes as reporting arrest data to The U.S. Justice Department and installing federal monitors to oversee operations.
article_snippet: The report's findings vindicate critics who have cited a pattern of abuse in Ferguson.
article_snippet: Biased: the investigation found Ferguson officers  too often charged blacks with petty offenses . '
article_snippet: Justice Department staff had reviewed 35,000 pages of police records and interviewed hundreds of city officials and average citizens as part of the six-month probe, concluding that a large portion of Ferguson's population mistrusts the local police force and considers a large portion of Ferguson's population illegitimate.