WASHINGTON - The Justice Department will open a broad civil rights investigation into the police practices in Ferguson, Mo., where a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager last month, officials said Thursday.
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The investigation, which is expected to be announced soon, is in addition to the F.B.I. civil rights investigation into the Aug. 9 shooting of teenager, Michael Brown, according to two government officials who were briefed on the plans.
Under Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., the Justice Department has opened 20 civil rights investigations into police departments, more than twice the number opened in the five years before Mr. Holder took office.
The investigation will focus on the police in Ferguson, one of the officials said, but officials have not ruled out expanding it to other St. Louis County departments.
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Scenes of Chaos Unfold After a Peaceful Vigil in Ferguson Entities 0 Name: Justice Department Count: 2 1 Name: Michael Brown Count: 2 2 Name: Ferguson Count: 2 3 Name: WASHINGTON Count: 1 4 Name: F.B.I. Count: 1 5 Name: St. Louis County Count: 1 6 Name: Eric H. Holder Jr. Count: 1 7 Name: Holder Count: 1 8 Name: Mo. Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/WeyfG8 Title: Missouri governor lifts state of emergency in Ferguson Description: Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson Missouri Governor Jay Nixon addresses the media following an announcement that officer Darren Wilson had been involved in the shooting of teen, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri August 15, 2014. "Over the past week, we've seen students getting back to school, businesses reopening their doors and folks getting back to their normal routines," Nixon said in a statement.
