Shut It Down, Ferguson

After reading the stomach-turning Justice Department report on the Ferguson Police Department -- rampant with racism and existing solely to create revenue for the city -- the only appropriate thing to do is dismantle the whole thing.

Ferguson is not alone in this area. There are far too many of these small municipalities in the St. Louis area (and probably across the country) whose police force and municipal court cause more trouble than they prevent. Their mottoes aren't "protect and serve," but "ticket and fine." There is no amount of racial sensitivity training that can repair the decades-long malignant tumor that has grown in Ferguson, and simply firing a few cops isn't going to change the residents' distrust of a system designed to treat them as if they lived in George Wallace's Alabama.

Ferguson should follow the lead of nearby Jennings by disbanding all of it and contracting with the St. Louis County Police Department to protect public safety.