Running Head: Ferguson

Literature Review: Ferguson

Audrey Duran
Professor Hinojosa

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Introduction

Hands up dont shoot has been a representation of Ferguson, Missouri

and of the tragedy that occurred. On August 9, 2014 a white officer, Darren Wilson, shot
and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager. The nation was outraged and
people started to riot in the city of Ferguson. The citizens of Ferguson were outraged and
wanted justice for Michael, and were afraid that somehow it might happen to them as
well. The city of Ferguson and the nation of the United States did not take this situation
lightly; they wanted someone to take responsibility and to enforce the notion that this
should never have happened. This paper will synthesize what led to this tragic situation
and how the nation reacted. The questions to help create the different perspectives on
what was taking place before and after the incident are:
1) Is there racial profiling in Ferguson, Missouri?
2) What procedures do officers in the police enforcement have to follow in a certain
situation that regards shooting a suspect?
3) How did the nation and the citizens of Ferguson react to the incident?
These questions will help understand the different aspects of what happened in Ferguson
and what the bigger issue is with police enforcement and race.
Is there racial profiling in Ferguson, Missouri?
The citizens of Ferguson are one of many cities in the United States that feel
cheated and harassed by racial profiling. There are statistics that show that there is a
majority of African Americans in Ferguson and yet the majority of police enforcement are
white. In the United States Census Bureau the data states that 67.4 percent of Fergusons
population is African Americans (not mixed); those not of mixed race or who are

Running Head: Ferguson

Caucasian make up 29.3 percent (US Census Bureau, 2010). People believe that they are
getting targeted by their race. Rand Paul stated in Time magazine Given the racial
disparities in our criminal-justice system, it is impossible for African Americans not to
feel like their government is particularly targeting them (Paul, 2014). People believe the
authoritative figures are looking for easy stops to make arrests.
BBC News interviewed a local, white twenty three year old teacher, and she
stated I feel like my skin color gives me a lot of privilege, so Im not going to be target
for the police (Harvey, 2014). Many of the white citizens in Ferguson want to believe
they are fortunate because of their race. Some of the citizens within Missouri understand
what is going on and want to make statements regarding the issues. The Democratic State
Senator Jamilah Nasheed told a news conference This here was racial profiling turned
deadly (Harvey, 2014). The Senator of Missouri believes that there is racial profiling.
Pema Levy a Washington correspondent for Newsweek states, Fergusons police force
has 50 white officers and three black ones. One young, black man told Slate he is stopped
about 10 times a month (Levy, 2014). Patricia Bynes, a Democratic committeewoman
for Ferguson Township, tells Pema Levy "On traffic day in these little municipalities, you
usually find a white judge in the courtroom, white prosecutor, and you find lines of black
people lined up around the corner that have been charged with these tickets" (Levy 2014).
The citizens of Ferguson have been getting enormous amounts of tickets due to traffic
stops some are getting an outrageous amount in less than a month.
Angela West, Department of Justice Administration at University of Louisville
stated racial differences in percentages of drivers stopped by the police are not
necessarily evidence that police use race as a factor in deciding whether to make a traffic

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stopthat is, not necessarily evidence of racial profiling (West, 2003). There can be
numerous amounts of data that show that officers stop a higher percent of African
Americans, but it does not show racial profiling. West stated,
The questions of whether any particular person was stopped because of race or
whether any particular race is disproportionately singled out for enforcement;
however, cannot be answered with traffic stop data because of the distinction
between an officers decision to stop a particular vehicle and the reason for the
stop (West, 2003).
Racial profiling is hard to prove, till this day we do not have the technology to prove if an
officer indented to stop a vehicle or approach a person, like Officer Wilson approached
Michael, based on race. There is no way of fully understanding if there is or is not racial
profiling. It all depends on where the police officers do their routes and where do they
mainly get their calls (Appendix A). Dr. Jeffery Rojek a professor at the University of
Texas at El Pasos department of Criminology and criminal justice stated in the lengthy
interview that it depends where the police officers spend their time (Appendix A). They
go to where they get their calls, which are mostly predominantly black communities in
Ferguson (Appendix A). A person can not truly prove racial profiling because an
individual cannot get into someones head and fully understand if they are trying to be
racist; intent can not be proven. (Appendix A)
This issue has been going on for years and years, it did not come into sight just
recently. In June 2000, just a few miles away from where Michael Brown was shot, two
unarmed black men, Ronald Beasley and Earl Murray, (a small-town drug dealer), were
parked at a Jack in the Box, and many detectives were waiting to make an arrest on them.

Running Head: Ferguson

Earl was trying to flee the scene, so he reversed to back out and crashed into a police
SUV and two officers moved toward the car and opened fire. They shot them twenty one
times (Levy, 2014). When they took the case to court, the officers stated that Earl was
moving toward (not reverse) the two officers, and they opened fire in self defense. Yet, a
new investigation rose and it proved that the vehicle never went out of reverse. Three out
of thirteen detectives testified that the car moved forward, so the other ten did not want to
lie under oath (Levy, 2014). This issue has been in occurrence for many years and yet
there is still no change. It is extremely difficult to indict an police officer in any city, in
the situation with the Darren Wilsons court case, they were trying to convict him, yet it is
extremely hard because the suspect is died and there is only limited amount of
information.
What procedures do officers in the police enforcement have to follow in a certain
situation that regards shooting a suspect?
The law enforcement world is like another world for some people. We hardly
understand what producers come in to play, when an police officer should pull out their
weapon, and when to regard with caution. When is the right moment for an officer to take
out their weapon? Rojek stated in the interview that it depends on the situation (Appendix
A). Each county differs in strategies and training; no one agency is alike. There are over
17,000 agencies in the United States (Appendix A). A city can spend two months on a
specific training and the next city over can do three weeks on the same training; it all
depends on the cities expectations. Not all agencies have the same tactics they use to
precede with a suspect; the general tactic every officer should use is one up the
individuals force.

Running Head: Ferguson

It depends on the scenario, in regarding to how a police officer takes out his/her
weapon. If an officer gets a call that a suspect is armed and threatening people, the officer
is going to have his/her weapon out due to the fact that the suspect is armed. If the police
officer gets a call to a house because they were too loud, the officer is not going to have
his/her weapon out because the situation does not need to have the weapon out. The
officer is going to discuss the situation with the individual; if it escalates the officer can
potentially pull out his/her weapon. Even something small, like traffic stop, can
potentially escalate. The officer needs to evaluate the situation and react in order to
proceed with caution. In the incident in Ferguson, Darren Wilson was trying to get
Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson out of the middle of the street, and it escalated
dramatically from there.
It also depends on the size of the suspect (Appendix A). If the suspect is a female
52 weighing about 120 pounds with no special fighting skills, and the police officer is a
510 male around 180 pounds, he will take it easy on this female because she is smaller
and will not over power him. He should not use all his power to take down this petite
female. It all depends on the situation, and it can always escalate (Appendix A). If an
individual is unarmed and resists arrest and tries fighting the officer, or if the individual
tries to take the officers weapon, the officer can then take out his weapon, whether it is a
baton, taser or a gun (Appendix A). Darren Wilson described the scene in his testimony
and stated When I grabbed him, the only way I can describe it is I felt like a five-yearold holding onto Hulk Hogan (Wilson, 2014). Darren Wilson felt threaten by Michael,
and he strategically decided to subdue him.

Running Head: Ferguson

Many people believe that officers shoot to kill but that is not the case, because
officers are trained to shoot the suspects center body mass (Appendix A). Officers shoot
the center body mass because it is the largest portion of the human body; if an officer
shoots the leg or the hand, there is a greater chance the officer will miss the shot
(Appendix A). Only fifteen to twenty percent of officers actually shot the suspect, and the
other seventy five to eighty percent miss because the suspect is moving and there is
adrenaline in both because they dont want to get shot (Appendix A). If an individual is
threatening an officer and the officer pulls the trigger of his gun, the officer does not wait
and see if that affected them or not; they keep shooting until the suspect stops (Appendix
A). Darren Wilson incorrectly followed the procedures due to the fact that he was aiming
for his head all I see is his head and thats what I shot (Wilson, 2014). Darren Wilson
felt that Michael Brown was a deadly threat to him and decide that the only way he can
truly stop him was by shooting him several times (Wilson, 2014).
Many situations differ from others; an officer can use the same force for a small
female and a very large man or vise versa; but morally it is wrong (Appendix A). The
situation can be non-threatening and progresses to a dangerous situation where the police
officer must take out his/her weapons and use force to stop the victim. It depends on how
much training the officer has. People may want to blame the officer for shooting their
family member, friend, etc. Yet if it is justifiable that the police officer correctly followed
the procedures, there is hardly anything the state can do for them because the situation
was not clear cut, and evidence will always be missing if the individual died from the
shooting of an officer (Appendix A). There will always be missing evidence on situations
where the officer kills a suspect. The agency can also say that the officer did not follow

Running Head: Ferguson

direct procedures and fire him and the officer can no longer be an officer anymore.
Everything depends on the agency and the city with the producers that follow a situation
that can occur.
How did the nation and the citizens of Ferguson react to the incident?
The citizens of Ferguson and the nation had very different reaction toward the
issue regarding the death of Michael Brown. The citizens of Ferguson had a more
dramatic reaction towards the situation and it is still occurring today. The citizens started
protests, riots and looting and many more things that only the city itself can truly
understand. The nation believes the citizens of Ferguson are disrespecting their
community and city (Miller, 2014). No citizen should burn or destroy their city
(Newman, 2015). USA Today states Many rioters are concerned less with justice than
with looting. This, too, is tragic. But it only goes to show how incompetent our systems
of law enforcement and police power really are. Our whole concept of criminal justice is
badly in need of reform (Using APA, 2014).
Figure 1. This illustrates shows the after math of the rioters and one of several building they
burned after the grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson. They believe that destroying this
beauty salon will help achieve their goal to get justice (Newsman, 2015)

Running Head: Ferguson

Newman, A. (2015). ESTABLISHMENT MEDIA. New American (08856540), 31(1), 23-25. http://0web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=c9628035-aa32-453f-943a22adc2a1e1ab
%40sessionmgr4001&vid=7&hid=4207

The president, Barrack Obama, gave a statement on Ferguson the day after the
grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson:
Burning buildings, torching cars, destroying property, putting people at risk;
thats destructive and theres no excuse for it. Those are criminal acts. People
should be prosecuted if they commit criminal actsnothing of significance,
nothing of benefit results from destructive acts To those that think that what
happened in Ferguson is an excuse for violence, I do not have any sympathy for
them I have no sympathy at all for destroying your own communities (Miller,
2014).
Our president believes that Ferguson is being disrespectful and belittling their city. The
nation understand that there is no good reason to destroy property and burn others
property (Miller, 2014). The nation as well as the citizens of Ferguson was protesting,
rioting and some even looting, but one of the major things that held everyone in the loop
was social media. They used the hash tags #dontshoot #Ferguson #handsup and many of
the protesters were coming from outside of Ferguson and across the nation to support the
cause (Bonilla, 2015). Others who could not attend the protest in Ferguson went to other
options, like news coverage (Bonilla, 2015).
The citizens of Ferguson united to make a more productive protest. Juliette
Jacobs, a member of the Organization for Black Struggle states "All around we've been
doing nonviolent trainings, know-your-rights trainings, to make sure people understand
what their rights are, so people know what they're allowed to do, and what they can

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expect the police to do," (Bruinius, 2014). There are many peaceful protesters even
organizations that offer medical assistance, like Andrea Schmidt who is a student at the
University of Missouri St. Louis and is a nursing student. She is part of group called the
Gateway Region Action Medics. The group wears a red cross on their clothing (Bruinius,
2014).
Conclusion:
We still do not fully know what happened to Michael Brown on August 9, 2014. It
will always be more one sided, due to the fact that there is only one alive victim with the
situation. Everything has more than two sides and no matter which way you put it there is
the correct way and the wrong way of doing things. We can not fully understand if Daren
Wilson correctly followed the procedures to take down Michael Brown. The nation is still
using the hashtags to remain informed of what is happening in Ferguson. We still can not
say there is or is not racial profiling because when it comes down to it, it is about the
interpretation of the person thats viewing the data; no one can understand a persons
thought process or intent.

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References:
BONILLA, Y., & ROSA, J. (2015). #Ferguson: Digital protest, hashtag ethnography, and
the racial politics of social media in the United States. American
Ethnologist, 42(1), 4-17. doi:10.1111/amet.12112. Retrieved from http://0web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=012fea24-0d9446e0-bddd11ce562c4238%40sessionmgr4002&hid=4109&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl
2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=101004179
Bruinius, H. (2014, November 26). Why Ferguson protests, like Occupy, might not have
staying power. Christian Science Monitor. p. 1. Retrieved from http://0web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=57&sid=a57f25f9-78e8486b-937f750f50091816%40sessionmgr112&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z
SZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=99743103
Ferguson riots prolong suffering. (2014). USA Today. Retrieved from http://0-

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web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=27&sid=a57f25f9-78e8486b-937f750f50091816%40sessionmgr112&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z
SZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=J0E256230179514
Harvey, D. (2014). Ferguson: Behind the scenes of the protest movement. BBC News.
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/30203056

LEVY, P. (2014). THE TRIALS OF FERGUSON. Newsweek Global, 163(10), 24-26.

Retrieved from http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?
sid=a5f03448-1547-472984934af9a2ca2296%40sessionmgr4003&vid=6&hid=4206&bdata=JnNpdGU9Z
Whvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=97901381
Miller, Z. J. (2014). President Obama Says There Is No Excuse for Ferguson
Violence. Time.Com, N.PAG. Retrieved from http://0
web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=24&sid=a57f25f9-78e8486b-937f750f50091816%40sessionmgr112&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z
SZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=99832793
Newman, A. (2015). ESTABLISHMENT MEDIA. New American (08856540),31(1), 2325. Retrieved from http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?
vid=48&sid=efcb60a5-d169-49c9-97a2-

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8a1d65ee07e6%40sessionmgr115&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z
SZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=100265016
Paul, R., Abdul-jabbar, K., & Fulton, S. (2014). Lessons From a Tragedy. Time, 184(8),
28-29. Retrieved from http://encore.utep.edu:50080/ebsco-w-a/ehost/detail/detail?
sid=669cfc1a-3d46-490c-a9b52f79e4986c74%40sessionmgr4004&vid=0&hid=4207&bda
United States Census Bureau. (2010). Ferguson (city), Missouri. United States Census
Bureau. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/29/2923986.html

West, A. D. (2003). Chicken Little, Three Blind Men and an Elephant, and "Racial
Profiling": A Commentary on the Collection, Analysis, and Interpretation of
Traffic Stop Data. Journal Of Forensic Psychology Practice, 3(2), 63-77.
Retrieved from http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/ehost/detail/detail?
vid=17&sid=efcb60a5-d169-49c9-97a28a1d65ee07e6%40sessionmgr115&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2Z
SZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=10918762
Wilson, D. (2014). Case: State of Missouri v. Darren Wilson. The New York Times.
Retreieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/11/25/us/darrenwilson-testimony-ferguson-shooting.html?_r=0

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Appendix A
The interview took place on March 20, 2015 at 10 am in the Vowell Hall room 310
with Dr. Jeffrey Rojek. It last around 45 minutes.
1) How does a police officer approach an armed suspect?
It depends, law enforcement police varies from place to place. 17,000 law
enforcement agency in US, we dont have the ability or power to have the federal at
the same level and the state and local level. The training they get varies; some
counties get a certain amount of training and the next city over only gets half of what
the other city gets. We can have different states have different tactics. The proper
training depends on nature of the amour, you see or take a call that a individual is
armored you are not going to not have your weapon out because it can potentially
escalate. You are not going to approach the area right in front of the individual
because they can start shooting at you. You arrive somewhere out of sight but you are
going to have your gun out since you had information that it is. You get a distance
away to evaluate the situation and see what kind out tactics you should use, cover and
conceal. What about a knife, you would have a fire weapon out, but if there are two

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officers there one officer can have a fire amour out and the other can have a taser it
depends ion the threaten nature. You approach them in a way that gives you distance
and coverage, that compels you to not shoot because you have no choice to shoot.
2) Is there a difference how to react if the person is unarmed?
It depends; sometimes people will call the police. If a person calls the police for
person running around the streets, you try to talk to them and establish a conversation,
assume they dont tackle you but if you are threaten your behavior I might have to
detain you, I would have to handcuff you. You are not grabbing my weapon or
threaten you if you grab me I am not going to use my fire amour weapon I might hold
you, officer are going to react towards you behavior. If a person is calm I am going to
ask them to put their hands behind their back, but if they dont want to go I might
have to use more force. If you have a stance like you want to fight me then I might
tackle you use a taser, baton, if it is still an unarmored person. But if you try to grab
my gun it can turn into a deadly force situation. It can always escalate to a potentially
amours, take the size difference the generally assumption is I should not be treating
you like I treat a 62 muscular person. Lets say we are fighting, by you hitting me
and hitting me, I cant just pull a gun on you. You can technical shot them but it is not
morally accepted. But if it is reversed and this person is huge hitting me and hitting
me it is justifiable to shoot you. If a person is a threat to an officer and they must
shoot them, they will not shoot once, they will shoot several times until the suspect
goes down.
3) What type of situation is it correct for a police officer to take out their
weapons?

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Its all about the scenario, use of force continuum matrix. It varies, like on
taser, some agency have it right under deadly force some have it of a passive
residence. The generally logic is to always be a step above. If you have a threaten
weapon the officer will have their weapon out. Officers goes to your house
because your house alarm went off, and the door is slightly open they are going to
go in there with their fire amours out. Lets say you pull over someone and you
pull up their license plate and it states they have a high amount of warrants or
have a felony warrant or better yet they have a exact description of a car that fled
from a shooting or robber, you are going to get the out of their car and have your
weapon out.
4) Is it true that officers shoot to kill?
There are communities that support their police and some dont. Police are
supposed to shoot at center body mass; its the biggest part of their body. You
shouldnt be shooting anyone unless there is a deadly threat or injury threat to the
officer or other people around them, and you have to stop them if it get to their
level. People think you should shoot their leg or hand, but they are not that good
to be shooting at a certain area. Usual people missed if they shoot their gun,
people dont shoot that way because you are more likely to miss. There is such a
high percentage of missing; you have to shoot their body mass to not miss, and it
is likely they may die, but you have to do it. Most shooting go down from eight to
ten feet away from each other, fifteen twenty percent people actually hit them and
dont miss because they are moving I am trying to not get shot by you your
breathing and get excited, suspects shoot half of that percent, luckily for cops I

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guess. It is not just targets at a shooting range, there is adrenaline pumping in your
body, so its most likely they will miss. It is until person stops, I will keep on
shooting and I might be missing until you go down. If your still coming Im still
shooting.
5) Are there any drastic differences in the procedures in Missouri and Texas?
There is no way of knowing it agency by agency and training. It also depends on
the state and cities norms and expectations. Civil right generally both, they dont sue
the officer because they dont have money. Juries are not uniform, juries do have the
same view points they do not see eye to eye. Juries make the decisions too. Different
people looking at the decision, we still dont know what happened. Ferguson different
people are looking at the state federal report, you decide if it is right or wrong and it
depends if their who the jury is made up with.
6) Is it difficult to charge a police officer and get indicted?
Yes. Some people like to factor prosecutors work with officers. They work
with police and sympathetic to them, they dont want a bad working relationship
with them, its not clear cut to what happened. They dont know if the officer went
over board. Its complicated, how do I address the case the officer has good
representation and there might not be enough evidence; they can make a counter
agreement. The agency can fire the officer even if they did not get indicted if the
officer did not do the proper procedures and put people in jeopardy. If they dont
get indict they can sue civilly the city or agency.
7) Do you believe there is racial profiling in Ferguson Missouri?

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By law the officers have to report their traffic stops, they collect the data by law.
Who they stop and the characteristic of their stops They have a 3rd party to review
the data. You have to ask yourself how do you judge racial profiling with data and
figure out if they had intent. They have try to put in play with statically data
analysis, its a black white issue, does the rate of individuals who are being
stopped who are African American reflective who are on the road that are
committing violations that becomes complicated. You have comminutes that
prominently black or prominently white very few are mixed racially. Where do
officers spend there time where do they get there calls for service, where do they
enforcement because citizens request. If most of them are in the predominate
black communities the majority are going to getting stopped. There is statics
separate. You cant get into people heads.

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