Most Common List of Misconceptions in Ferguson

Monday, September 22, 2014 City of Ferguson

Thursday, September 25, 2014 Protestors Response


1. The Mayor has the ability to grant pardons for traffic offenses
and warrants.

FALSE: Any authority granted by state law vests in the City Council as a whole rather
than just one member of the City Council (Section 3.1 of the City Charter).
Regardless of whether its the Mayor or the entire Council, they clearly cannot cancel
warrants because they cannot override orders of a court.

Protestor Response:
Does this statement suggest that the Mayor is a figurehead? Does the Mayor have no
influence over the City Council to influence legislation?

Further, while the Mayor may not have the power to grant pardons, he is able to
speak out in support of pardons and encourage other City Council members to vote to
pardon those with warrants. In this letter from St. Louis University School of Law that
has already been sent to you, they clearly outline what you could do next.


2. The Mayor or the City Manager has the ability to fire the Police Chief.

FALSE: Missouri state law requires a super-majority of the council to vote to fire the
Police Chief. See Section 106.273 R.S.Mo.

In addition, the Council must provide notice and a hearing to the Police Chief and can
only fire the Chief for one of the reasons set forth in Section 106.273.

Protestor Response:
The people of Ferguson are intelligent, well-informed, and understand there are
established processes for effectuating personnel changes. They want the Mayor and
City Manager to promptly take a definitive position on an issue of immediate
importance.

Chief Jackson has violated two parts of Section 106.273 referenced above:

Section 106.273.1.b Has committed any act, while engaged in the performance of
his or her duties that constitutes a reckless disregard for the safety of the public or
another law enforcement officer.

Section 106.273.1.d Acts in a manner for the sole purpose of furthering his or her
self-interest or in a manner inconsistent with the interests of the public of the chiefs
governing body.

In willfully miscommunicating with the public, leading and engaging in reckless police
practices resulting in injuries and spurious arrests, there are sufficient grounds to
dismiss Chief Jackson in accordance with the law. When is his dismissal hearing?

3. The Mayor or the Police Chief can fire Darren Wilson.

CLARIFICATION: Officer Wilson may be fired by either the Chief of Police or the City
Manager. However, there are legal implications to discharging him without the
conclusion of the investigation into wrongdoing, which is being completed by St. Louis
County Police and the Prosecuting Attorney.

Protestor Response:
The people of Ferguson understand the potential legal implications of discharging
Officer Wilson and with such knowledge wish to move forward with his termination.

Furthermore, we fear that Officer Wilson will no longer be able to do his job in Ferguson
without putting both the safety of citizens and his own safety at risk. to protect the
citizens of Ferguson from any further unrest. The nearly assured legal implications of
failing to protect the 21,000 lawful citizens of this municipality should far outweigh the
potential legal implications of requiring one man to find alternative employment, and as
the city council, we urge you to fully live up to the oath of your public office, with a
mission that states To set the standard of excellence in public service, safety, and
communication. We ask, therefore, that the City Manager terminate Officer Wilsons
employment to protect the citizens of Ferguson.

4. The Ferguson Police Department has obtained military and riot gear and
used this gear during protest.

FALSE: Neither Ferguson Police Department nor the City of Ferguson possess any of
the military equipment used during the protest. We received a generator and a couple
Humvees that were painted as a part of our outreach for children under the D.A.R.E and
school resource officer program. The other Humvee will be used for inclement weather.

Our police department doesnt use or possess tear gas, rubber bullets, stingers or any
of the items used during protest.

Protestor Response:
This is offensive. This statement appears to suggest that the tear gas, rubber bullets,
stingers and other materials werent used on the streets of Ferguson. They were. It
also seems to suggest that the city of Ferguson bears no responsibility for the use of
these weapons of war on lawful, peaceful citizens. You are. Ferguson officers were
present perhaps wholly unprepared to use the said warfare weaponry and
engaged citizens.

The City of Ferguson and the Ferguson Police Department must take responsibility
for allowing the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and other military equipment and
weapons used against its residents during protests .Failure to own these items does
not make you any less guilty of causing injury, pain, and inspiring fear in citizens,
protestors, media and others.

This is a blatant attempt to revise history. The City of Ferguson is culpable for the
damage caused to its people.

5. The city generates the majority of its revenue from traffic fees and fines.

FALSE: Under the current 2014-2015 fiscal year budget, the total revenue of the City is
projected to be $20,238,000.00 When the budget was adopted last June, total court
fines and court costs were projected to be $3,085,000.00 which is less than 20% of the
Citys revenues.


Protestor Response:
The amount of revenue the city generates from traffic fees and fines is excessive and
the manner in which the city of Ferguson allows officers to ticket and arrest citizens
should be changed, as should the operation of the municipal court in Ferguson.

The 20% number is court costs, fines, and bond forfeitures. It is the 2nd highest
source of revenue. Of course, implicitly or explicitly, if the budget is set at $3 million,
then the City has to both ticket a lot of people and increase the fines to meet this.

And again, theres a white paper that already establishes this. Just because there are
counties with more revenue coming from fees and fines that Ferguson doesnt mean
that theres no problem in Ferguson.

6. If a person shows up for court without payment they will be arrested or if a
person shows up for court after a warrant for failure to appear has been issued
they would be arrested.

FALSE: As long as a person shows up at Court on his/her scheduled court date, he
or she will not be arrested. If the person has been scheduled to make a payment
and is not able to make the payment, he or she will not be arrested for not being
able to pay. If a person is not able to pay, he or she is expected to come to court on
the scheduled court date and explain to the Municipal Judge the financial
circumstances which show why he or she cannot make the payment. At that time,
the person will not be arrested, but will be given another court date to pay or talk to
the Judge again.

If a person fails to appear for a scheduled court date, a warrant will be issued
because of the persons failure to appear in court as required. A warrant is not
issued if the person shows up in court, even if the person is not able to make a
payment.

If a warrant has already been issued because of the persons prior failure to appear
in court, the person will not, most likely, be arrested if he or she appears in court
later. The Municipal Judge and Municipal Court personnel have greater interest in
resolving and adjudicating cases than in arresting someone and having that person
come back on a later date.



Protestor Response:
Defendants will remain wary of re-engaging the municipal court unless a definitive
description of what will happen is provided. A brilliant example of unclear information
appears in the City's misconception list, which reassures defendants that they will
not, most likely, be arrested. Most Likely does not provide the necessary guarantee
to citizens that they will be safe to engage in the court system without fear of
excessive punishment.

How do you expect the trust of your citizenry when this is how you continue to
communicate?

7. The City and Police Department are protecting Darren Wilson

FALSE: The City of Ferguson and the Police Department are not protecting Darren
Wilson. We are saddened by the incident that led to the death of Michael Brown and
were committed only to an investigation that is conducted fairly and without bias.

Protestor Response:
The actions of both the City and the Police Department indicate otherwise. Officers
showed up to a peaceful memorial on Canfield with dogs and wearing riot gear, a
deeply insensitive reference to the practices and imagery of the darkest days of the
Civil Rights Movement, when officers also used these tactics to beat and intimidate
peaceful protestors. Neither the City nor the Police Department released Darren
Wilsons name when asked, repeatedly, by media, protestors, and Michael Browns
family, through the appropriate legal processes. When Chief Jackson inappropriately
released security footage from Ferguson Market at the same time he released Darren
Wilsons name, his actions incited a riot. . The list of ways in which it appears that
neither the City nor the Police Department are saddened or committed to an unbiased
investigation goes on and on.



8. African Americans are being targeted by law enforcement throughout
the city.

FALSE: We are not targeting African Americans. African Americans make up the
majority of our community and surrounding communities to the southwest and east so
most people being pulled over will be African American.

Having said that, we are not trying to ignore the need for better relations with the African
American community and we believe the more involved we are in the community, the
more likely it is that well earn African American citizens trust back.

Which is why promoting our African American officers is a major priority and in the last
year we raised our officer salaries and were involved in mentoring opportunities for
junior high and high school students.




Protestor Response:
Can you not imagine a world in which the majority of black people are not criminals?

Simply because there are more black people in Ferguson does not necessarily mean
that there will be more black criminals. Again, this is an offensive suggestion that
highlights how ingrained notions of black criminality are within City leadership.

For instance, the Missouri Attorney General's data on traffic stops definitively
validates the lived experience of most African Americans in Ferguson that they are
more often targeted for police stops. In the state of Missouri in general, African
Americans are pulled over at a rate 63 percent greater than expected based solely
on their proportion of the population 16 and older. How do you explain the data
refuting what you are saying here? (Read that whole white paper thats linked, too)


9. The City is controlling the I Heart/Love Ferguson campaign.

FALSE: The "I Heart/Love Ferguson" committee is led by a group of residents from
Ferguson that has no direct affiliation with the City of Ferguson. They are a separate
entity with 501(c)(3) status pending and their chairman is former Ferguson Mayor, Brian
Fletcher.


Protestor Response:
Given the opposition of the I Heart Ferguson committee and supporters to work with
protestors and those supporting protestors, we believe that the city should decline to
work with the committee on any projects. In addition, police officers and the Police
Department should not work with the committee on any projects.

Also, Fletcher was the former Mayor for many years. Does this mean that you have
no contact with him now despite his past role?


10. The Court Reform (changes to the fines and forfeitures) were only
in response to the demands of the protestors.

CLARIFICATION: Court reforms have been considered for months. Just a few months
ago, the Court signed an order with regard to court dockets and easier access with
regard to the municipal court. Last spring, the Ferguson Municipal Court initiated a new
community service program for those municipal court defendants who were 19 years of
age and younger.

This program was meant to keep younger defendants from facing a large amount of
fines and possible warrants issued after the defendant fails to appear in court. The
Court wanted to analyze the results of this program before broadening it to a larger
group of defendants. It appears to have been successful so far.

The Court is currently working on a community service program for all defendants. The
City of Ferguson was the first city with a municipal court to implement this program last
spring. It continues to be the first to implement further reforms.


Protestor Response:
This is disingenuous at best. The purported amnesty program is directly linked to the
protests, even though the City has taken no efforts to publicize it and is not accepting
calls of people who inquire about it. Again, the half implementation of the amnesty
program is another example of systemic and structural racism creating systems and
structures that disadvantage people of color.







11. A press release stated the $50.00 failure to appear fee was being
abolished; but the police station is telling people its $100.00.

CLARIFICATION: The $50.00 administrative failure to appear fee is being abolished.
The $100.00 represents a bond for the more serious cases (non-traffic). A bond is a
monetary promise to show up in court.

The bond is not a fee it is held in a special bond account until the defendants case is
resolved. The defendant can use the bond to apply as payment or partial payment for
his/her fines. If there are no fines, the bond is refunded to the defendant when the case
is resolved. If the defendant fails to show up in court later, it takes a court order to forfeit
that bond.

On the amounts, here is an explanation:

1) It is free if a defendant just has traffic tickets (so, the defendant does not have to
post a bond)

2) The bond is automatically reduced to $100 for all other cases (so, for more
serious cases, the defendant has to pay a reduced bond of $100 keeping in mind that
his original bond may have been $500 but, the bonds on all serious cases is
automatically reduced to $100). Just FYI these types of cases include assault,
possession of illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia, trespassing, stealing, DWI, and
similar cases.

3) No fees are required for the warrant recall.


Protestor Response:
N/A


12. The Mayor doesnt acknowledge the racial divide nor does he care about
African American people or what happened to peaceful protestors, Michael
Brown and his remains.

FALSE: The Mayor was raised in this community. He went to school here. He served
10 years on the city council, working with the concerns of all residents. He made a
mistake regarding his comments about the racial divide and Michael Browns body and
he is deeply sorry.

He knows there are racial divides all over this country and in Ferguson communities.
His statement about there being no racial divide was taken out of context and he has
repeatedly apologized both publicly and to people who may have been offended.

Regarding comments about Michael Brown and protestors: He meant no disrespect to
Michael Brown or his family. As far as the protestors are concerned, he has apologized
to various groups and will continue to do so.


Protestor Response:
We will revisit this once the PR firm provides the proper context for the Mayors
remarks, as referred to above.


13. The city hired a PR firm to distract people and the media from the truth.

FALSE: We are a small municipality that could not and should not have a
media/communications team on staff or under retainer around the clock as that would
be a waste of tax payer dollars. But just as there is a specific need for accountants and
lawyers, there is a need for communications people to help us manage the multitude of
media queries and request that limit our ability to speak to our local constituents and
conduct city business as usual.

We hired Common Ground PR to assist with media relations and the Devin James
Group (a locally-based nationally certified Minority-owned firm) to assist with community
outreach and communication strategies.


Protestor Response:
If this list of 18 misconceptions was produced by the PR firm, then there is much
work to be done. This document is not enough to restore faith and trust from citizens,
especially when it is riddled with untruths, spin, and incorrect grammar.


14. Ferguson Residents and Businesses are moving away due to this incident

FALSE: No, in fact weve gotten a great deal of positive responses from residents who
wish to stay, and businesses that want to stay, expand, or locate in Ferguson for the
first time. Every single project that was planned in Ferguson before these protests, are
moving forward and we hope people will take notice of the confidence that is being
displayed in Ferguson.


Protestor Response:
This appears to be true. Many business owners and people working in Ferguson have
spoken with and thanked protestors for their efforts and given food, water, and other
supplies to protestors. Several business owners and people working in Ferguson
have apologized to protestors for the actions of civilians who have yelled at and/or
harmed protestors. However, some residents of Canfield Apartment complex have
been working to leave the area, given the terror they and their children faced in
seeing Michael Brown slain, left to lay in the street for four-and-a-half hours, and
becoming prisoners in and accosted coming out of their own homes for several days
during heavy police militarization.




15. The police department is trying to keep protesters from demonstrating by
using excessive force and arrest.

FALSE: The Ferguson Police Department and specifically Chief Tom Jackson and
Sergeant Dilworth have been actively meeting with various protest groups throughout
this process to get a better understanding of their demands, request and planned
activities.

While the protest may have caused some discomfort for residents, we truly believe that
open dialogue with the protest groups is an effective outreach strategy that has the
potential to greatly reduce any additional damage to property, loss of business or
violence in the coming months.

For example, on September 7, 2014 there was a large protest on West Florissant
Avenue. Only two arrests were made in both cases, the person failed to comply with a
direct order of a police officer. They were arrested by St. Louis County officers. Also,
there have been several protests within the City of Ferguson without anyone having
been arrested.


Protestor Response:
With this answer, you have chosen to ignore the excessive force covered in social
and traditional media from August 9
th
-September 7
th
, during which the most
egregious acts of brutality and excessive force occurred.

In addition, what occurred on September 20, 2014 at the Ferguson Farmers Market
and on S. Florissant road is a perfect example of the police department mistreating
protestors and favoring those opposed to protestors. When civilians assaulted
protestors at the farmers market, police did not arrest those civilians. They did,
however, threaten to arrest protestors. Later, after a car hit protestors on Florissant
Road, police arrested a peaceful protestor standing on a curb, in addition to arresting
the driver and a protestor involved in the incident. In addition, police have threatened
to arrest protestors, have laughed at protestors, have called protestors names, and
have pulled out their cell phones to record protestors. None of these things indicate a
desire for open dialogue or any respect for protestors as human beings.


16. The city is not being transparent about decisions they are making
that affect the community and has been having meetings in private.


CLARIFICATION: The Council has scheduled regular meetings which are not less
frequently than once each month and routinely meets at least once a month.

The Charter does not preclude the Council from cancelling a meeting due to emergency
circumstances and in the interest of public safety and those are the guidelines we have
followed.

Due to increased interest and attendance by non-resident neighboring citizens, media
and protestors we had to be creative when it comes to venues selected for all meetings.
There are occupancy and additional security measures that have to be in place when
large crowds are expected to protect all participants.


Protestor Response:
This clarification does not address whether or not the City Council has been meeting
in private or the lack of transparency in Council decisions. The Council has identified
the following two mission statements:
To set the standard of excellence in public service, safety, and communication.
responsibility;
To promote the vitality and growth of our neighborhoods and businesses while
preserving the history of our community.

To reach these goals, transparency in all Council operations must be a top priority.





17. Officer Tim Zoll is behind the Darren Wilson Fundraising page that has
helped raise money to cover his legal fees.

FALSE: The Shield of Hope Foundation 501(c)(3) was formed in 2010. The nonprofit
corporation is related to the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Lodge 15 which is the local
chapter. The FOP supports law enforcement officers in times of need with financial
assistance for them and their families.

Officer Zoll is only a member of the corporations board of directors. The Corporations
Board is comprised of other members of various law enforcement agencies. Officer
Zolls position as a police officer with the City of Ferguson is completely separate from
his position on the corporations board.

Moreover, his limited role in the corporation as one board member does not allow him to
make the ultimate decisions about fundraising or distribution of funds. Officer Zoll
cannot, unilaterally, make any decisions for the corporation. Therefore, the City of
Ferguson nor Officer Zoll are responsible for or in control of the Darren Wilson
Fundraising efforts or any groups that are assisting him



Protestor Response:
Darren Wilson is receiving his normal pay and benefits while he is on leave.
Therefore, any fundraising for him is unnecessary.

To raise money for, organize fundraising efforts for, or participate in any way in the
organization of fundraising efforts for Darren Wilson puts Officer Zoll in direct opposition
to the protestors in Ferguson, whom he is sworn to protect and serve. Therefore, Officer
Zoll should resign his post on the board of directors of The Shield of Hope Foundation
and should discontinue any fundraising efforts supporting or on behalf of Darren Wilson.
Furthermore, all Ferguson officers and all police officers stationed in Ferguson while
there are protests should be precluded from organizing or participating in any
fundraising efforts or activities supporting or on behalf of Darren Wilson.

18. The citizen review board language in the ordinance from the city is weak
and contains no real changes that will lead to a change in policy relating
to African American people or policing.

FALSE: In an effort to get the review board introduced to the council so we could
implement this calendar year we knew we needed to move quickly so we used a model
that has been implemented in the St. Louis area to get us started.

The ordinance read at the council meeting on Monday September 22
nd
, 2014 was just a
first reading. The City will continue to take input over the next couple weeks from
residents and community groups about the operation of the board and it will certainly be
a work in progress.

The City Manager, the Mayor, the City Council and the Police Chief have structured a
strategic engagement with the National Association of Citizen Oversight of Law
Enforcement (NACOLE) to discuss and identify national best practices on the
implementation and powers of these types of boards and will leverage their expertise to
develop the best program for the residents of the City of Ferguson.

Protestor Response:
Whether the City Councils intentions were good or not, this action and the response
to this allegation and to questions regarding the citizen review board again show a
lack of transparency on the part of the city government and its officials. The LA times
agrees.