If the Ferguson Police Department is eventually eliminated in the aftermath of recent official confirmation of racial bias, it wouldn’t be the first time. In the past year alone, a number of police departments of varying sizes have been done away with for reasons ranging from financial necessity to overwhelming controversy.
Former Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson transferred from one such troubled department in Jennings, Mo. Wilson, a white officer who would later go on to be cleared of any wrongdoing in the shooting death of black teen Michael Brown, was once part of a team in Jennings that had so many racially charged troubles between blacks and whites that it was completely disbanded and new officers were brought in.
Elsewhere in the United States, problems with police departments can get so bad that they are shut down completely.
In Waldo, Fla., the police had become so corrupt that there was literally a sign on the highway to warn drivers of a speed-trap ticketing scam. In October 2014, the City Council voted to disband the department completely and Waldo is now protected and served by the county sheriff’s office.
