Why Ferguson Could Lead To Federal Takeovers Of Local Police

Photo Credit: The FederalistIn response to a white police officer shooting Michael Brown in Missouri, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced a broader civil rights probe into the Ferguson Police Department—an action that could lead to a federal takeover of the police.

While such probes might not lead to Department of Justice punishment for past local police conduct, it could pave the way for “systemic legal reform going forward,” according to CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

“It’s very serious,” Toobin said of the investigation, before it was formally announced, “because it can lead to a virtual federal takeover of the police, as happened recently in New Orleans.”

After Brown’s death, the DOJ descended on Ferguson similarly to its response to the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida in 2012. Then, DOJ sent its Civil Rights public relations unit—the Community Relations Service (CRS)—to act as “peacemakers.”

But talking wasn’t all CRS did in Florida, and it’s not all in Missouri, either. According to Ferguson Mayor James Knowles, who spoke with the Daily Caller last month, CRS “protest marshals” helped train people demonstrating against police over the shooting.

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