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The Philadelphia police department is the latest law enforcement agency facing federal scrutiny from the Department of Justice.

The Justice Department has identified nearly 50 areas within the Philly police department that need improvement. In a preemptive step, Philadelphia Police Chief Charles Ramsey called for the DOJ to investigate the department because of the high number of police shootings against citizens.

This investigation comes on the heels of the DOJ’s damning reports on the Ferguson and Cleveland police departments, causing us to ask, ‘what does this really say about the nation’s law enforcement agencies?’

On Tuesday, Roland Martin, host of “NewsOne Now,” and the Straight Talk panel featuring Stefanie Brown James, CEO and Founding Partner, Vestige Strategies LLC, Joia Jefferson Nuri, Founder and CEO of In the Public Eye Communications, and Dru Ealons, Political and Lifestyle Blogger, discussed the DOJ report and issues with policing in Philadelphia, as well as in other police departments in America.

Martin told the panel, “The reality is we have a serious problem in America when it comes to police departments being out of control, folks drunk with power and unfortunately, it is taking the DOJ to come in and have to say, ‘Look, get your act together.’”

“NewsOne Now” panelist Stefanie Brown James told Martin, “There is an epidemic of police departments not only being out of control, but utilizing the power that they have against the people who they are supposed to protect.”

“What we just saw in Philadelphia for example, where you have majority young Black and Brown boys who are two times more likely to have deadly force used against them by the police — this is not something that is just happening in Philadelphia, it’s happening in Cleveland, it’s happening in Detroit, and it’s happening in cities that aren’t even these big metropolitan areas and unfortunately, it’s a crisis that really needs to be addressed.”

Watch Martin, Brown James, Jefferson Nuri, and Ealons discuss the DOJ’s Philadelphia Police Department report, as well as how police departments around the nation are abusing their power in the video clip above.

DOWNLOAD the report released by the DOJ’s office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, weekdays at 9 a.m. EST on TV One.

Subscribe to the “NewsOne Now” Audio Podcast on iTunes.

SEE ALSO: Will The DOJ’s New Racial Profiling Guidelines Make A Difference On The Streets?

SEE ALSO: Justice Department Finds Years Of Racial Discrimination Against Blacks By Ferguson PD

DOJ Report Blasts Philly Police Department, What Does This Say About The Nation’s Law Enforcement Agencies?  was originally published on newsone.com

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