By Alan Scher Zagier
Ferguson, Mo. (AP) - The Ferguson City Council (click here) has unanimously agreed to accept a U.S. Justice Department plan to overhaul its embattled police force and municipal court system.
Elected leaders in the St. Louis suburb where the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown helped spark the Black Lives Matter movement voted Tuesday night to approve the DOJ consent decree.
The agency and Ferguson reached a tentative agreement in late January, but the council rejected the plan in February over cost concerns, prompting the Justice Department to sue the next day.
City leaders have since said they expected to approve the consent agreement after being assured that the city won't be required to provide its police officers with pay raises, a provision they feared could bankrupt Ferguson. They tentatively approved the decree at a meeting one week ago. Tuesday's vote makes it final.
A city analysis indicated implementation costs could approach $4 million in the first year alone. That led the Ferguson council to amend the agreement in February with seven provisions aimed mostly at keeping costs in check....
