The embattled police chief in Ferguson, Missouri resigned Wednesday, a week after a scathing US Justice Department report into the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by one of his officers.
Thomas Jackson is the latest prominent official in the St. Louis suburb to stand down, seven months after Brown was shot and killed by white police officer Darren Wilson, igniting angry protests and a national debate about race and law enforcement.
"It is with profound sadness that I am announcing I am stepping down from my position of chief of police," wrote Jackson in his letter of resignation, cited by the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper.
"It has been an honor and a privilege to serve this great city and to serve with all of you," added Jackson, who has been police chief since 2010.
In a brief statement, the City of Ferguson confirmed it had agreed "a mutual separation" with Jackson that would see him get severance pay and health insurance for a year.
But it faulted Ferguson's city hall, police department and municipal court for racial bias in targeting its African-American majority as a means to generate revenue.
- Family 'relieved' -
Jackson is the fifth Ferguson official to resign in the wake of the Justice Department's damning findings.
Ferguson's court clerk was meanwhile fired over emails that smacked
of racism.
Wilson, no longer with the overwhelmingly white Ferguson police force, said he shot Brown after the youth -- a suspect in a corner-store shoplifting -- tried to grab hold of his firearm.
Others insist that Brown had put his hands up in a gesture of surrender when Wilson opened fire.
A grand jury in November chose not to indict Wilson on murder or manslaughter charges, reigniting protests that sometimes turned violent.
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