From [HERE] Saying that Austin officers continue to use excessive force disproportionately against minority residents, two community groups have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, asking federal authorities to reopen their investigation into the Police Department. The Austin chapter of the NAACP and the Texas Civil Rights Project announced Wednesday that they will again ask federal officials to examine whether police are systematically violating residents' civil rights.

The groups say that since the Justice Department closed its investigation last year — an inquiry they called for in 2004 and received in 2007 — stops and searches of minority suspects have risen and two more fatal police shootings of minority suspects have occurred. In late May 2011, saying they could not find evidence that the Austin Police Department was violating the law or the U.S. Constitution, federal officials closed their four-year investigation into the department.

"We're human beings.  Even if we're not respectful, we have rights under the law," said Austin NAACP President Nelson Linder. "Those rights should be protected in every situation.  APD must understand that."