Both the Ferguson city manager and police chief have resigned, joining a growing list of city officials and police officers who have left their positions following the release of the Department of Justice’s report.
The report, which was made public last week, uncovered corrupt and discriminatory inner workings within the city’s police department and court system.
John Shaw, the city manager since 2007, was exposed as the ringleader responsible for overseeing the courts’ excessive fining and the police department, who disproportionately targeted the city’s Black population. Though Shaw denies involvement in the practices, he agreed to resign yesterday.
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Shortly after Shaw’s resignation went into effect, Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson also announced that he would be stepping down.
“Many of us have been pushing him out, trying to do so, for months now,” said Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D) to MSNBC. “He has said for the last six months or so that there has not been a racial issue that has existed in Ferguson, and all along we knew that there were some problems that happened in Ferguson with people who had experienced institutionalized racism.”
Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said at a press conference yesterday that Jackson’s resignation was a “mutual separation.”
“After a lot of soul-searching—and it’s very hard for him to leave and for us to have him leave—he felt that this was the best way forward,” Knowles said. “[He is] doing this obviously not for the city, but for the men and women who served under him.”