Feds to give details about review of North Charleston police

Author: The Associated Press
Published: Updated:
North Charleston Police Department / MGN/ CNN

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Federal officials planned Tuesday to give details of their official review of the police department in North Charleston, where a former officer faces state and federal charges in the shooting death of unarmed motorist Walter Scott.

More details about the review, requested by Mayor Keith Summey, were expected to come at a news conference at city hall by officials from the Justice Department.

A federal review focuses on department policies, and cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia and Las Vegas have requested them after shootings involving police. Justice officials say nine other jurisdictions nationwide are in the process of being assessed.

This one comes amid state and federal cases against Michael Slager, the former officer captured on cellphone video firing eight times as Scott ran from a traffic stop in April 2015. Shortly thereafter, Slager was fired and his case inflamed a national debate about how white officers treat blacks. His trial on state murder charges is scheduled to begin in October, and he pleaded not guilty last week to federal civil rights charges related to the shooting.

The factors the Justice Department’s Community-Oriented Policing Services program will likely consider include a comparison of the city’s racial makeup and its police department. As of March 2015, the month before Scott’s death, records provided by the police department showed that, while nearly half the residents of North Charleston are black, the majority of the city’s police force was white.

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