Halfway through fiscal year 2016 that number has dropped to $250,000, according to the city. In 2014, the city’s municipal revenues stood at $2.7 million. The municipal court now makes just a fraction of what it used to make from fines. “The city relies on the police force to serve, essentially, as a collection agency for the municipal court rather than a law enforcement entity,” then-Attorney General Eric Holder said in 2015 when the DOJ investigation of Ferguson was released.Īfter a consent decree and the threat of a lawsuit, Ferguson has changed its ways. While the DOJ did not find reason to charge the officer for the shooting death of Brown, it did find fault with the police department and city for the disproportionate ticketing and fining of black residents. Policing for profit: How Ferguson’s fines violated rights of African-Americans The ticketing and fining practices of the police and courts were what the Department of Justice pointed out as major factors for creating the powder keg that exploded after the police killing of Michael Brown. However, there is proof police ticketing practices do place a role in simmering tensions between African-American communities and police, according to the Department of Justice. There have to be consequences and tickets can’t be withheld out of concern a resident cannot pay it. Others say if you’re breaking the law, there’s no excuse. “My clients, so many of them lose their license for poverty-related reasons,” Gena said. Gena says what she is witnessing every day is black and poor residents bearing the brunt of the city’s ticketing practices. The group represents those unable to pay for an attorney. “Some of my clients are afraid to call the police for help in an emergency because they have a warrant for unpaid tickets,” says Molly Gena, an attorney for Legal Action of Wisconsin. Many say this belief strains relations and stokes tension between the black community and police. African-Americans point to numbers like these when they allege they are pulled over more often, believing cops know they cannot afford the fines for a ticket. I’m in a lose-lose situation.”Ī 2011 University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee study found that while blacks make up 19% of registered drivers in Milwaukee County, they received 69% of license suspensions for failing to pay fines. “They will suspend my license so either way it goes. But if I don’t send it then there’s a warrant out for my arrest,” Bridges says. “Sometimes I don’t have the extra $50 that they need me to send in. Not only was she unable to afford to get her taillight fixed immediately, but she couldn’t pay the fine, which just kept growing. “Every day I see the police and I’m like ‘Oh lord, not today,’” Bridges says.īridges says her ticketing nightmare began with a broken taillight. She says just getting to and from her job every day is nerve wrecking, always looking over her shoulder wondering when the police are going to pull her over. She is a single mother of five and having a heck of a time trying to make ends meet. Tawana Bridges has lived in Milwaukee since the 1970’s. Some in black communities say traffic stops target them. “Everyone knew that it was inevitable.”īut some residents in Milwaukee don’t understand the explosion of anger after a case like this, one where police say they have evidence the man pointed a gun at police. “Everyone felt it,” Rainey says of the simmering tension. One of the many triggers for the unrest is something much more mundane: the targeting and ticketing practices of police. He says the destructive reaction by some in the predominantly black neighborhood was not about the police shooting. Rainey laments what he sees, but also understands how it happened. “I see something I hope we never see again.” It became the scene of protests and then violent clashes after police shot and killed Sylville Smith who is black and police say was armed. Rainey is an Alderman for the 7th district in Milwaukee, which includes the Sherman Park neighborhood. Khalif Rainey stares intensely across the police tape marking the burnt out parts of the neighborhood he loves and represents. It’s not just about police killing black men.
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