| > Actually I just realized they didn't appear to be narrowing down the number of people with outstanding warrants by residency - is it just the aforementioned statistic (see my other comment) or is there data on the number of those people who are residents? Searching through the report I can't find any information to support the statistic they give. Specifically: According to the court’s own figures, as of December
2014, over 16,000 people had outstanding arrest warrants that had been issued by the court. In
fiscal year 2013 alone, the court issued warrants to approximately 9,007 people. Many of those
individuals had warrants issued on multiple charges, as the 9,007 warrants applied to 32,975
different offenses. No where in the body of this statement does it specify how many of the people to whom warrant's were issued are residents. The other link aside from the report in the article is: http://www.npr.org/2014/08/25/343143937/in-ferguson-court-fi... Which states quote: In 2013, the municipal court in Ferguson — a city of 21,135 people — issued 32,975 arrest warrants for nonviolent offenses, mostly driving violations. Note that the report corrects the 32,975 statistic to 9,007 warrants - where as the former number is the count of criminal charges. Furthermore no where in the NPR article does it state how many of those warrants issued were for Ferguson residents. Combined with conclusions such as: The DOJ report shows not just a racist criminal justice system, but one in which the very act of being alive has been made a crime, and in which nearly every resident is wanted by the law at every moment of every day. I'm inclined to call it shoddy journalism. |