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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder gestures as he speaks to members of the community during an interfaith service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church where The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, Monday, Dec. 1, 2014, in Atlanta. AP / David Goldman

ATLANTA -- In the wake of clashes at protests in Ferguson, Missouri, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says new Justice Department guidance will aim to end racial profiling and ensure fair and effective policing.

Holder said in a speech Monday at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta -- where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a pastor -- that he will unveil details of the plan in the coming days.

Civil Rights organizations have urged the Justice Department to clarify federal profiling guidelines to eliminate loopholes created by post-9/11 national security provisions. The Justice Department is working to finalize scheduling details, but the announcement will likely happen on Wednesday or Friday, officials said.

"In the coming days, I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement, which will institute rigorous new standards and robust safeguards to help end racial profiling, once and for all," said Holder during his speech. "This new guidance will codify our commitment to the very highest standards of fair and effective policing."

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Across the nation, thousands of students marched Monday in protest of the grand jury decision not to indict officer Darren Wilson in the death of...

President Obama instructed Holder to hold regional meetings on building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve after the conflicts in Ferguson. Monday's meeting in Atlanta was the first.

Earlier Monday, Obama asked federal agencies on Monday for concrete recommendations to ensure the U.S. isn't building a "militarized culture" within police departments, as he promoted the use of body cameras by police in the wake of the shooting of an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri

The White House also announced it wants more police to wear cameras that capture their interactions with civilians. The cameras are part of a $263 million spending package to help police departments improve their community relations.

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Attorney General Eric Holder to announce new guidelines ...

Atlanta, Ga. Speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta the church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday that he will soon unveil long-planned Justice Department guidance aimed at ending racial profiling.

Holder traveled to Atlanta to meet with law enforcement and community leaders for the first in a series of regional meetings around the country. The president asked Holder to set up the meetings in the wake of clashes between protesters and police in Ferguson, Missouri.

"In the coming days, I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement. This will institute rigorous new standards and robust safeguards to help end racial profiling, once and for all," Holder said. "This new guidance will codify our commitment to the very highest standards of fair and effective policing."

Tensions between police and the community in Ferguson boiled over into violent confrontations in August after a white police officer shot a black teenager. Protests turned violent again last week after a grand jury declined to indict officer Darren Wilson in the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Holder's meeting in Atlanta included a closed roundtable discussion with law enforcement and community leaders followed by a public interfaith service and community forum.

The meeting came on the heels of President Barack Obama's request to federal agencies Monday for recommendations to ensure the U.S. isn't building a "militarized culture" within police departments. The White House also announced it wants more police to wear cameras that capture their interactions with civilians. The cameras are part of a $263 million spending package to help police departments improve their community relations.

The selection of King's church as the site for the meeting was significant. The most successful and enduring movements for change adhere to the principles of non-aggression and nonviolence that King preached, Holder said.

"As this congregation knows better than most, peaceful protest has long been a hallmark, and a legacy, of past struggles for progress," he said. "This is what Dr. King taught us, half a century ago, in his eloquent words from the Ebenezer pulpit and in the vision he shared from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial."

While the grand jury has made its decision, the Justice Department continues its investigation into the death of Brown and into allegations of unconstitutional policing patterns or practices by the Ferguson Police Department, Holder said to loud applause.

Holder also told the crowd that the meetings he's convening around the country are just the beginning and that he wants to start a frank dialogue and then translate that into concrete action and results.

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Atty. General Holder announces plan 'to help end racial profiling, once and for all' (+video)

Protesters chanted no justice, no peace with fists raised on Monday, interrupting a speech in Atlanta by Attorney General Eric Holder who was announcing his plan to help end racial profiling, once and for all. (CNN) more >

Protesters chanted no justice, no peace with fists raised on Monday, interrupting a speech in Atlanta by Attorney General Eric Holder who was announcing his plan to help end racial profiling, once and for all.

Mr. Holder spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church in a town hall meeting called The Community Speaks, when about a dozen demonstrators stood up chanting, We have nothing to lose but our chains, No justice, no peace, and Eric Holder, do your job.

They walked with their right fists in the air as they were escorted out of the service, receiving applause and ovations from the other audience members.

There will be a tendency on the part of some to condemn what we just saw, but we should not, Mr. Holder said after the crowd calmed.

What we saw there was a genuine expression of concern and involvement. And it is through that level of involvement, that level of concern and I hope a level of perseverance and commitment, that change ultimately will come. And so let me be clear, let me be clear, I aint mad atcha, all right? he said, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, CNN reported.

Mr. Holder said that in the coming days he plans to announce rigorous new standards for federal law enforcement to stamp out racial profiling.

He was in Atlanta as part of a series of nationwide conversations following the racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, CNN reported.

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Eric Holder interrupted by protesters chanting 'no justice, no peace' at Atlanta church

ATLANTA, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Protesters repeatedly interrupted Attorney General Eric Holder while he was attempting to speak to an Atlanta church about the social unrest in Ferguson, Mo.

"There will be a tendency on the part of some to condemn what we just saw, but we should not," Holder said after quieting shouts of "no justice, no peace" at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday.

"What we saw there was a genuine expression of concern and involvement. And it is through that level of involvement, that level of concern and I hope a level of perseverance and commitment, that change ultimately will come. And so let me be clear, let me be clear, I ain't mad atcha, all right?"

Holder may not have been mad, but protesters were escorted out of the church after they refused to stop chanting. The demonstration continued outside the church.

Inside the church, Holder delivered the rest of his message to a more cooperative audience.

"Our overall system of justice must be strengthened and it must be made more fair," Holder said. In addition to alluding to the sweeping law enforcement reforms proposed by President Obama on Monday, the nation's top ranking law enforcement official also promised to "institute rigorous new standards and robust safeguards to help end racial profiling once and for all."

Listeners cheered from their seats when Holder reaffirmed the Justice Department's commitment to continuing to investigate whether Wilson violated Michael Brown's civil rights and overall nature of the Ferguson Police Department's history with non-white citizens.

"These twin investigations have been rigorous and they have been independent from the beginning. Now, while federal civil rights law imposes an extremely high legal bar in these types of cases, we have resisted prejudging the evidence or forming premature conclusions. And as these investigations proceed, I want to assure the American people that they will continue to be conducted thoroughly and in a timely manner, following the facts and the law wherever they may lead."

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Eric Holder booed by protesters while speaking to Atlanta church about Ferguson

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Monday he would soon release new guidelines to limit racial profiling by federal law enforcement, a move long awaited by civil rights advocates.

Holder announced his plan at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where 1960s civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached.

Holder's comments came in the wake of unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, after a grand jury's decision last week not to indict a white police officer in the killing of unarmed black teen Michael Brown.

Holder said he would announce the guidelines "in the coming days" as part of President Barack Obama's response to the tension between law enforcement and minority communities that the events in Ferguson exposed.

The Bush administration outlawed racial profiling by federal law enforcement in 2003 but it applied only to national security cases and did not limit officers from discriminating based on factors apart from race, such as national origin, religion or sexual orientation.

Civil rights advocates have long called on the federal government to expand the guidelines. It is not known what groups Holder will include.

The new guidelines would not pertain to local or state law enforcement, such as the Ferguson Police Department where officer Darren Wilson worked when he shot Brown.

But Holder and civil rights advocates have said the federal guidelines will set the example for local agencies.

"The new guidance will codify our commitment to the very highest standards of fair and effective policing," Holder said in prepared remarks.

Holder drew applause from the packed interfaith service when he said the Justice Department's civil investigation into the Ferguson police department and a simultaneous probe into officer Wilson "remain ongoing and remain active."

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U.S. attorney general to issue new guidance on racial profiling