His supervising sergeant, Michael Foster, had been actively covering up Brown's misconduct for years. Foster had edited incident reports to remove references to racial profiling, had coached Brown on how to write reports that would avoid scrutiny, and had intimidated witnesses who tried to file complaints. Foster had also been reassigning Brown to neighborhoods with higher minority populations, essentially using him as a tool to harass and intimidate residents who might be seen as undesirable by certain segments of the community. The FBI found emails between Foster and Brown, discussing which areas needed more aggressive policing and which types of people should be viewed with extra suspicion.
The scandal reached even higher when investigators discovered that Police Chief William Morrison had been briefed on Brown's pattern of complaints multiple times, but had chosen to take no meaningful action. Morrison had been more concerned with avoiding negative publicity than addressing obvious misconduct within his department. Morrison had actually blocked attempts by reform-minded officers to implement better oversight procedures. He had refused requests for body cameras, had opposed civilian review boards, and had consistently lobbied against transparency measures that would have exposed problems like Brown's behavior much earlier.
Patricia's case became the catalyst for a federal investigation that would ultimately encompass the entire police department. The Department of Justice launched a pattern-or-practice investigation, examining whether the department had systematically violated the civil rights of minority residents through discriminatory policing practices. Three weeks after the incident in Patricia's front yard, Officer Brown was arrested at his home by federal agents. He was charged with deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal crime that carries up to 10 years in prison.
The charges specifically cited his pattern of targeting minority citizens and his abuse of police authority to intimidate and harass innocent people. Sergeant Foster was arrested the same day on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. The FBI had discovered that he had destroyed evidence related to previous complaints against Brown and had falsified official documents to protect him from accountability. Foster faced up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted on all counts.
Chief Morrison resigned in disgrace before he could be fired, but his resignation didn't protect him from the ongoing federal investigation. Federal prosecutors were examining whether his deliberate indifference to civil rights violations constituted criminal conspiracy. Morrison's 25-year career in law enforcement ended with him hiring criminal defense attorneys instead of receiving retirement honors. The city's response was immediate and expensive. Within a month of the FBI arrests, Patricia received a settlement offer of $750,000.