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Department Of Justice To Investigate Ferguson Police

Attorney General Eric Holder visited Ferguson Aug. 20.
Office of U.S. Rep. Lacy Clay

Attorney General Eric Holder is reportedly planning to launch a civil rights investigation into the Ferguson Police Department and other police departments in the St. Louis Area.  

The announcement of the new investigation could come as early as Thursday, according to a report published in the Washington Post Wednesday evening.

The newspaper says Department of Justice officials will reportedly examine department policies and practices to determine whether they resulted in a pattern of civil rights violations.   

The probe of the police department would be in addition to the federal investigation already underway into last month’s shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a white Ferguson police officer. 

The newspaper says the investigation will be conducted by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and will follow a process similar to that used to investigate other police departments across the country.