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Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the Justice Department in Washington, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, to discuss the Aug. 9, 2014 shooting in Ferguson, Mo.

Attorney General Eric Holder saidFridaythat he is "prepared" to dismantle the Ferguson, Mo., police department to prevent practices the Justice Department said violated the rights of black citizens.

"We are prepared to use all the powers that we have, all the power that we have, to ensure that the situation changes there," he said. "That means everything from working with them to coming up with an entirely new structure."

Holder was also specifically about the possibility of dismantling the police force.

"If that's what's necessary, we're prepared to do that," he said.

Holder's comments come after the Justice Department released a lengthy reporton Wednesday accusing the police department of systematic racial bias.

The DOJ launched its investigation into the force after the killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown over the summer by a white police officer, Darren Wilson.

Provided by The Hill Holder 'prepared' to dismantle Ferguson police department

The report found that police officers disproportionately stopped, arrested and cited black people for a variety of crimes. They also used excessive force against black residents.

Investigators also found emails containing racist jokes written by police and court officials.On Friday, city officialssaidthat two officers had resigned and a clerk in the court system had been fired over the messages.

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Holder 'prepared' to dismantle Ferguson police department

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Attorney General Eric Holder said the Department of Justice could go as far as dismantling the Ferguson Police Department to ensure change after the DOJ report that found it discriminated against blacks in the Missouri city.

We are prepared to use all the powers that we have, all the power that we have to ensure that the situation changes there and that means everything from working with them to you know coming up with an entirely new structure, Holder told reporters on the tarmac of Andrews Air Force Base today.

Asked if that includes dismantling the police department, Holder said, If that's what's necessary, we're prepared to do that."

Earlier in the day, Fergusons mayor announced the citys court clerk was fired and two police officers resigned after the three allegedly sent vulgar and racist e-mails. The changes came two days after the DOJ report found Ferguson police systematically discriminated against blacks.

Speaking in South Carolina today, President Obama defended the Justice Departments findings, saying its investigation into racial bias by the department was very clear.

What we saw was that Ferguson police department in conjunction with municipality saw traffic stops, arrests, and tickets as revenue generators as opposed to serving, the president said at a town hall at Benedict College in Columbia, S.C. The president added the overwhelmingly white force was systematically biased, placing minorities under its care into an oppressive and abusive situation.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced it would not pursue charges against Officer Darren Wilson, the Ferguson police officer responsible for the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

ABC News' Chris Good and Matt Larotonda contributed to this report.

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Eric Holder: Justice Dept. Might Dismantle Ferguson Police Dept.

TIME U.S. Ferguson Holder Prepared to Dismantle the Ferguson Police Department Carolyn KasterAP Attorney General Eric Holder talks with media as he arrives on Air Force One in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. on March 6, 2015, with President Barack Obama, from Columbia, S.C. 'We are prepared to use all the powers that we have,' the Attorney General said Friday

Attorney General Eric Holder said Friday that hes prepared to dismantle the Ferguson, Mo., police department after a Wednesday Department of Justice report revealed numerous instances of racial discrimination and constitutional violations within the force.

We are prepared to use all the powers that we have, all the power that we have, to ensure that the situation changes there, Holder said. That means everything from working with them to coming up with an entirely new structure If [dismantling is] whats necessary, were prepared to do that.

Holder called Ferguson an anomoly but hopes other departments around the country are paying close attention to the contents of the Wednesday report, which stated that the Ferguson police valued revenue rather than public safety needs.

The notion that you would use a law enforcement agency or law enforcement generally to generate revenue, and then the callous way in which that was done and the impact that it had on the lives of the ordinary citizens of that municipality, was just appalling, Holder told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base. And that is not something that were going to tolerate.

[Washington Post]

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Holder Prepared to Dismantle the Ferguson Police Department

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