US attorney on police review: 'This is how democracy works'

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The Justice Department will scrutinize policies and procedures at the North Charleston Police Department over the next two years and suggest ways for the agency to improve its relationship with the community, a year after a white officer shot unarmed black motorist Walter Scott, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles said Tuesday.

North Charleston becomes the 11th police department in the nation to request such a review since the Justice Department started its Community Oriented Policing Services program, known as COPS, about five years ago.

Michael Slager, the former officer captured on cellphone video firing eight times as Scott ran from a traffic stop, faces a murder charge in state court and his trial is scheduled to begin in October.

Some in the black community in North Charleston weren't happy with Driggers' hiring in 2012 because Summey didn't appear to consult anyone before tapping Driggers to replace Jon Zumalt, whose used computers to find areas where crime was the worst and then send his officers there for an enforcement blitz.

Crime dropped substantially, but black residents said Zumalt's tactics were harassment, made worse because less than 20 percent of North Charleston's 325 officers are black in a place where African-Americans make up half the city's roughly 100,000 people.