Ferguson City Council seeks changes to DOJ reform agreement

The settlement was meant to correct problems identified in a Justice Department report last year, including unconstitutional and discriminatory practices across the police force and municipal court system.

[...] Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement that the council's vote marks "an unfortunate outcome."

If the Justice Department doesn't go along with the changes, a civil rights lawsuit is possible, potentially costing Ferguson millions of dollars in legal fees.

The amended agreement was announced and approved in a unanimous vote at the end of an often-boisterous meeting that had been moved to the Ferguson Community Center because of the crowd size.

The agreement requires hiring a monitor, instituting police diversity training, and buying software and hiring staff to analyze records on arrests, use of force and other police matters.

Some who spoke at the meeting said the cost of the original agreement was simply too high for a city with a $14.5 million budget and already facing a $2.8 million deficit that largely stems from such costs as overtime for police during protests, lost sales tax revenue from businesses damaged in fires and looting, and legal expenses.