Empowering Black America through Holistic Engagement
 
The Odyssey Project

Investigation of Ferguson Police Department

Investigation of Ferguson Police Department

Investigation of Ferguson Police Department
Click image to Learn more about Black Community Empowerment Blueprint 1.0

“Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the City’s focus on revenue rather than by public safety needs. This emphasis on revenue has compromised the institutional character of Ferguson’s police department, contributing to a pattern of unconstitutional policing, and has also shaped its municipal court, leading to procedures that raise due process concerns and inflict unnecessary harm on members of the Ferguson community.”

The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division has finally released its report on its investigation of the Ferguson police department, and to say that this report is scathing is an understatement. In an era in which misdeeds and injustices towards African Americans are often covered up, this report is very clear in its assertion that the Ferguson police department exploited its citizens of color for the sake of financial gain. In other words, it enriched the municipality of Ferguson on the backs of its poorest citizens with no impunity.

After my initial review of this report, I will have to say that I am not surprised at the findings. In fact, there is a wealth of empirical data that reveals that there are other municipalities across the country that exploit and abuse their African American population through similar easy-cash tactics. In fact, on average, blacks are arrested, ticketed and policed at a rate nine times greater than non-blacks.

What my extensive research reveals is that despite the hostile environments that encapsulate a large portion of the black population, and the pernicious machinations that are constantly in play against blacks, it is the lack of knowledge and the lack of preparedness by the black community that renders it vulnerable to this type of mistreatment. It is a situation in which those capable of functioning as leaders in the community are either disinterested, indifferent, or worse — serving as agents who are assisting the system in exploiting their own people.

We must be more accountable to our people and our culture if we are to ever escape the grips of racism and oppression. The ball is in our court, and until now, we have not even picked it up, much less engage the challenge of doing something with it. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace, Ph.D.

IMG_1034[1]Dr. Rick Wallace is a man who has committed his life to investigating, examining and anatomizing the struggles of African Americans for the purpose of developing comprehensive strategies that are capable of efficaciously resolving the enigmatic issues that are at the forefront of the African American experience.

Dr. Wallace has written 16 books that include: The Invisible Father: Reversing the Curse of a Fatherless Generation, When Your House is Not a Home, and his latest release, The Mis-education of Black Youth in America: The final Move on the Grand Chessboard and he is currently working on his latest project, The Black Community Empowerment Blueprint, a comprehensive step by step strategy that has the capacity to facilitate the complete elevation and empowerment of Blacks in America and abroad.

You can support the work of Dr. Wallace by donating to The Odyssey Project! Your donations will be directed to the numerous existing programs, the development of future programs, further research and studies associated with improving the Black Experience. Thank you in advance for your support.