FERGUSON, Missouri — Ferguson’s police chief is ducking questions about his department and his future there in the wake of a scathing federal report.
“I need to have time to really analyze this report so I can comment on it,” Chief Tom Jackson said Thursday in an exclusive interview with CNN.
He spoke one day after the Justice Department released its 102-page report, which found rampant racism within the Ferguson Police Department.
It specifically faulted officers for seeing residents as “sources of revenue,” a practice that disproportionately targeted African-Americans.
When asked what he thought about the report, and what he planned to do about it, the chief said he would “take action as necessary.”
Asked whether that meant he would remain at the department, Jackson repeated himself: “I’m gonna take action where necessary.”
Later, in response to the same question, he said: “I will let you know.”
Many have called for the chief to step down since the shooting death of Michael Brown.
Brown, a black teenager, was shot by a white officer in August. His death triggered widespread protests, and calls to change policing practices in America.
