USA

The DOJ Will Investigate Alton Sterling’s Shooting

The Louisiana attorney general said he would fully cooperate with the federal investigation. WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was killed by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, early Tuesday morning. “The FBI’s New Orleans Division, the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana have opened a civil rights investigation into the death of Alton Sterling,” said David Jacobs, a spokesman for the department. “The Justice Department will collect all available facts and evidence and conduct a…

Welcome to the arrest capital of the United States

When you cross into the New Orleans suburb of Gretna, Louisiana, over the Crescent City Connection bridge there is no sign that says, “Welcome to the Arrest Capital of the United States.” There is no cutout of a smiling cop telling you to be careful and not violate any local laws. There is no warning telling you that of all the large cities and mid-sized towns in the country, this is the one in which you are most likely to be arrested. In fact, it is. Nationally, Gretna is known as the place where, as Katrina’s flood waters stubbornly refused…

Black Man’s Fatal Encounter With Police Splits Mississippi City Known for Harmony

TUPELO, Miss. — The blue lights flashed in the rearview mirror of the Ford Focus. The man behind the wheel, a 37-year-old African-American, pulled over, opened the door and sprinted into the Mississippi night. Soon, a white police officer was giving chase on foot, accompanied by his police dog. The officer would eventually find and fatally shoot the man, Antwun Shumpert, here on the evening of June 18, plunging this small city — famous globally as the birthplace of Elvis Presley, but known regionally as a beacon of relatively progressive racial attitudes — into what has become a tragically common…

Fixing the Force

  • June 27, 2016
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Since 1994, the Justice Department has had the power to investigate law enforcement agencies nationwide for a pattern or practice of civil-rights violations. Federal officials can then compel departments with systemic problems to enter agreements to reform. Explore the investigations by location, date, allegation or status, then click for more details about each case. Policing the Police Sources: Justice Department officials and documentation; interviews with police and city officials and civil-rights groups; news reports. This project was reported by Sarah Childress, senior digital reporter for FRONTLINE’s Enterprise Journalism Group. It was built by Chris Amico and Ly Chheng from FRONTLINE,…

Police officer absolved in Freddie Gray case

  • June 23, 2016
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Baltimore police officer Caesar Goodson Jr. on Thursday was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died of injuries sustained while in police custody. Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams found Mr. Goodson, who is also black, not guilty of all criminal counts including second-degree depraved heart murder, the most serious accusation against any of the six officers charged in connection with Gray’s death. Prosecutor had failed to secure convictions in two earlier trials of police officers. Mr. Goodson, 46, was the driver of a police transport van in which Gray broke…

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