An investigation by the United States Justice Department has found out that there might be biased policing in Ferguson, concluding that officials habitually violated the civil rights of their citizens due to racial-motivated reasons.

The investigation came months after a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager last August. According to an official from the U.S. Justice Department, the investigation uncovered that there is a pattern of unreasonable use of force, interference of free speech, questionable arrests, and unfair traffic stops.

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Investigators found out about these unlawful practices after looking at police officials' emails. The U.S. Justice Department linked these unlawful practices with the violent protests in Ferguson due to the killing of the black teenager, 18-year-old Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson.

They pointed out that there was no trust between the police and the public, particularly among the black community. Wilson was not indicted by a grand jury in November, making the riots and civil unrest all the more violent not only in Ferguson but also in the other states.

Black citizens in Ferguson make up around 67 percent of the 21,000 residents in the city. Of the 67 percent, 85 percent were stopped in traffic unfairly and 93 percent were arrested unreasonably from 2012 to 2014. Also, Ferguson police officers used force to calm at least 88 percent of the black citizens in the area.

It was also found out that blacks are more prone to being searched by police during traffic stops twice as frequent as whites but mostly, these black citizens do not carry anything illegal. Blacks in Ferguson are also being hit with charges such as jaywalking, failure to comply, and disturbing the peace in an area.

From 2012-2014, 92 percent of the charges involved black citizens.

The U.S. Justice State Department noted that the black citizens being targeted by the Ferguson police caused the poorest citizens of the town to fall into having a lot of debt, losing their driver's license, being unemployed, and being jailed.

Also, the case of Brown caused a national debate concerning race, justice, and law enforcements. U.S. President Barack Obama responded to this by assigning a task force to improve the relationships between the public and the officials via proposing reforms such as body cameras being worn by police officials all the time. 

TagsFerguson, racial bias, biased policing, Ferguson Police, black Americans