Civil rights investigators with the U.S. Justice Department told Ferguson, Mo. police chief Tom Jackson that he needs to ban his officers from wearing bracelets supporting the officer who shot and killed unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown.
DOJ officials said they'd directly witnessed officers in St. Louis County wearing the wristbands that read "I am Darren Wilson" while on duty, the Huffington Post reports.
In a letter to Jackson, the Justice Department said it wants to "confirm our understanding" with the chief that his officers won't wear the bracelets, which drew complaints from Ferguson residents this week.
Also an issue: officers not wearing their nameplates. DOJ officials said that they'd personally observed some officers in St. Louis County going without the identifying name badges.
“Sometimes things are just so obvious that we feel like we can recommend a change right away,” Christy Lopez, an official with the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said during a meeting with Ferguson residents. “In a democracy, people need to know who their police are.”
A grand jury is currently in underway to decide if Darren Wilson will be charged with a crime in Brown's shooting. The FBI has launched its own civil rights investigation of the case.
[Via Huffington Post]
