Elements of Reform

The United States of America and the City of Ferguson entered into a Consent Decree with the shared recognition that the ability of a police department to protect the community it serves is only as strong as the relationship it has with that community. The provisions of the Consent Decree are meant to ensure protection of the constitutional and other legal rights of all members of the community, improve Ferguson’s ability to effectively prevent crime, enhance both officer and public safety, and increase public confidence in the Ferguson Police Department. The Consent Decree is also designed to increase transparency, strengthen accountability measures, and increase community and officer confidence that these systems are fair and consistent. The various areas of the Consent Decree include, but are not limited to the following:

FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTED ACTIVITY

First Amendment protected activities serve important societal functions, including promoting transparency in government affairs, ensuring accountability of public officials, and encouraging community feedback—whether critical or laudatory—that ultimately reduce tension and foster a sense of openness and trust between law enforcement and the public.

FORCE

The Parties agree that all FPD officers and employees must have an unwavering commitment to protecting human life, and to upholding the value and dignity of every person. To foster this commitment, and to ensure adherence to the Constitution and all other laws, FPD will ensure that its use-of-force policies, training, supervision, and accountability systems are designed to ensure that FPD officers, including civilian correctional officers: (a) use force only when necessary to accomplish a legitimate public safety objective; (b) use de-escalation techniques to minimize the need for force; (c) use force in a manner that avoids unnecessary injury and is proportional to the level of resistance; (d) recognize and act upon the duty to intervene; (e) immediately provide any necessary emergency medical assistance; (f) accurately and completely report all reportable force; (g) are recognized and supported when they achieve public safety goals while avoiding use of force; and (h) are disciplines when they use force that is unnecessary or objectively unreasonable or otherwise violates law or policy.

COMMUNITY POLICING AND ENGAGEMENT

Strong community partnerships and frequent positive interactions between police and members of the public make policing more effective, increase public confidence in law enforcement, and can reduce bias. To promote and strengthen community partnerships and positive interactions between officers and Ferguson residents, the City and FPD will increase opportunities for community engagement and will continue to adopt a policing approach that is community-oriented and based on problem solving principles.

VOLUNTARY CONTACTS, STOPS, SEARCHES, CITATIONS, AND ARRESTS

The City agrees to ensure that all FPD voluntary encounters, investigatory stops and detentions, searches, citations, and arrests are conducted in accordance with the rights, privileges, and immunities secured or protected by the Constitution and the laws of the United States. FPD will ensure that these police activities are part of an effective overall crime prevention strategy; are consistent with community priorities for enforcement; build trust between FPD and the community; and are adequately documented for tracking and supervision purposes.

BIAS-FREE POLICE AND COURT PRACTICES

Policing and the administration of justice must be implemented in a manner that ensures equal protection of the law for all individuals, regardless of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics. The Consent Decree addresses the obligations of the City, through FPD officers and employees, to provide police and court services free from unlawful bias or discrimination, and to fully recognize and value the legal rights and inherent dignity of all individuals, regardless of their protected characteristics.

CRISIS INTERVENTION

FPD will implement a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) first-responder model of police-based crisis intervention with community, health care, and advocacy partnerships to: (a) assist individuals who are in mental health crisis or who are in crisis related to the influence of alcohol or drugs (“individuals in crisis”); (b) reduce the need to use significant force against individuals in crisis and improve the safety of patrol officers, individuals in crisis and their families, and others within the community; (c) provide the foundation necessary to promote community solutions to assist individuals with mental illness; and (d) reduce the need for individuals with mental illness to have further involvement with the criminal justice system.

BODY-WORN AND IN-CAR CAMERAS

In an effort to bring continued transparency regarding police activities; improve the effectiveness and reliability of use-of-force and misconduct investigations; enhance supervision of FPD stops, searches, and arrests; and provide material for officer training, the City will equip FPD officers with body-worn and in-car cameras, and will ensure that such devices are used consistent with law and policy. All aspects of FPD's use of body-worn and in-car cameras will be designed and implemented to promote transparency, provide learning opportunities to officers, and increase officer safety, while ensuring officer accountability and respect for individual privacy rights.

SUPERVISION

First line supervisors and FPD command staff play a critical role in ensuring lawful, effective, and community-centered policing. The City will ensure that FPD supervisors provide the oversight and guidance necessary for officers to police lawfully, safely, and effectively; establish and enforce a culture of community policing throughout the Department; and prevent, identify, and correct misconduct.

SUPPLEMENTAL RECRUIT AND IN-SERVICE TRAINING

To ensure that officers have the knowledge and skills to police constitutionally and carry out the requirements of this Agreement, the City agrees to provide and require the training set forth for each of the substantive areas of the Consent Decree.

OFFICER ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT

Physical and mental wellness has a direct impact on officers’ ability to perform their jobs safely, constitutionally, and effectively. Fatigue and stress impact health, judgment, and performance and can thus negatively impact officer well-being. Recognizing these dynamics, and the pressures of being a law enforcement officer generally, the City will continue its officer assistance and support efforts to support officer resilience and their physical and emotional health and will provide officers with resources to maintain their physical and mental health.

CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT

To promote transparent and community-centered law enforcement, the City agrees to continue and expand its commitment to establishing meaningful civilian oversight of FPD.

POLICIES AND TRAINING

To ensure that officers have the knowledge, skills, and direction necessary to police constitutionally, effectively, and in a manner that promotes both officer and public safety, the City agrees to continue to enhance its policies and increase the quality and scope of training provided to FPD officers and other FPD employees. The City agrees to develop systems for policy and training development and delivery that will generate policies and training that are current, responsive to identified needs, and effective. The City agrees to implement policies that reflect its commitment to community policing, procedural justice, and bias-free policing, and to support these directives through effective training for recruits, as well as for new and experienced officers, that reflects these same principles.

RECRUITMENT

Transforming FPD into a law enforcement agency that has the confidence of the entire Ferguson community and that consistently polices effectively and constitutionally requires that the City recruit and retain a diverse workforce of highly qualified officers. Highly qualified officers are those who have respect for and knowledge of law; a keen sense of integrity and ethics; are skilled communicators and problem-solvers; are slow to lose their temper; and who have a service mentality alongside courage, initiative, common sense, humility and civility. A broad range of diversity throughout the ranks of the Department—such as diversity in life experience, cultural background, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and language—fosters the high-quality policing described above and is critical to improving understanding and effectiveness in dealing with all communities.

PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS AND PROMOTIONS

The City agrees to ensure its policies for performance evaluations and promotions support and recognize officers who police effectively, lawfully, and ethically. The City will revise its policies to achieve such goals. The City further agrees to ensure that poor performance, inappropriate conduct, or conduct that otherwise undermines officer or public safety and community trust is reflected in officer evaluations and promotion decisions.

MUNICIPAL COURT REFORM

To ensure that the Ferguson Municipal Code is enforced for the purpose of protecting public safety, and to enable the fair and impartial resolution of municipal charges, the City agrees to (a) ensure Municipal Code enforcement is driven by public safety, (b) implement a Comprehensive Amnesty Program, (c) increase transparency of Court operations, (d) ensure adequate notice, (e) reform payment systems, fines/fees, ability-to-pay determinations, license suspensions/reinstatements, and payment plan options, (f) eliminate unnecessary barriers to resolving cases, (g) reform bond; (h) reform requirements for municipal arrest warrants; (i) reform trial procedures; (j) maintain appropriate court records; (k) ensure independence from City Prosecutor and impartiality of Municipal Judge, and (l) ensure appropriate accommodations for defendants with mental illness or intellectual or developmental disabilities.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Holding public servants accountable when they violate law or policy is essential to ensuring legitimacy of governance and community confidence. Well-functioning accountability systems also promote employee safety and morale. The accountability provisions set out throughout the Consent Decree are designed to ensure that Ferguson’s accountability systems are effective, fair, and transparent.

DATA COLLECTION, REPORTING, AND TRANSPARENCY

The City and FPD agree to ensure the collection and tracking of all FPD and municipal court data that is: (a) necessary to enable the City’s ongoing assessment and improvement of its law enforcement practices, as discussed throughout the Consent Decree; (b) necessary to enable the Monitoring Team to conduct its outcome assessments; and (c) otherwise required by the Consent Decree, FPD policy, and state and federal law.

REFORM OF THE FERGUSON MUNICIPAL CODE

To ensure constitutional enforcement of the Ferguson Municipal Code (“Code”) and further promote community-oriented policing, the City agrees to revise the Code and ensure that it comports with the United States Constitution and other laws; establishes clearly defined municipal offenses and appropriate penalties for violations; and adequately protects the public health, safety, and welfare.