The U.S. Justice Department is set to launch a full-scale investigation Thursday into the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department following allegations of massive constitutional rights violations, specifically on the recent shooting of Michael Brown, an 18 year old African-American teenager who was reportedly unarmed when shot to death by a white Ferguson policeman.

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United States Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. said the investigation will be conducted Thursday this week by the civil rights division and will follow the same procedure being done in investigating complaints of the use of excessive force and profiling in police departments across the country.

Reports said the investigation is, so far, the most aggressive step President Barack Obama has taken in addressing the Ferguson shooting, which had set off a series of violent demonstrations between police and demonstrators in St. Louis county.

An autopsy report released last month showed that Brown was shot at least six times on the afternoon of August 9. Darren Wilson, the white policeman who fatally shot Brown, said he acted in self defense.

The Justice Department probe will look into whether Darren Wilson, the white policeman who gunned down Brown, violated Brown's civil rights. On a broader scale, the Department will investigate whether the county police used policies and practices that resulted in a violation of the constitutional rights of the victim.

The probe will not only look into the practices of the Ferguson police department, but will also investigate other police departments of the St. Louis suburbs. Reports reaching the Justice Department said that majority of the members of the police force serving the African-American communities in the area are white.

Reports said that at least five current members and one former member of the Ferguson police force are facing lawsuits for allegedly using excessive force. Aside from the lawsuits, the Ferguson police force is facing at least six internal investigations concerning a wide array of cases ranging from hog-tying a 12-year-old boy, gun stunning a mentally ill man which resulted in his death, and pistol whipping children.

The Justice Department, under Holder, is currently investigating 34 other police departments for possible civil rights violations. Reports said the Department has initiated a number of investigations twice that of any of Holder's predecessors.

Sources said that last April, the Department had issued a scathing report on the Albuquerque police force. The reports indicated that the officers had repeatedly used excessive force and profiling, as well as violated the citizens' civil rights when there was no imminent threat to them or the community.

At that time, the Department's civil rights division reported that the Albuquerque police suffered from "inadequate oversight, inadequate investigation of incidents of force and inadequate training."

The civil rights division of the Department of Justice Federal investigators conduct probes into police departments to determine patterns of excessive use of force, department training, and complaints against the officers to help the individual police avoid excessive profiling and stop the repeated constitutional violations of the citizens' rights.

More often than not, these investigations end up with the Justice Department filing a lawsuit against the local police department.

The civil rights division had been given authority by a federal law in 1994 to probe on whether police departments are engaging in a series of practices violating the civil rights of the citizens.

The law was crafted after the release of a videotape of African-American Rodney King, who was severely beaten by police officers.

Community witnesses said that Brown was walking in the neighborhood with a friend when the white policeman, Wilson, stopped him and started shooting him. Reports said Brown, who was unarmed, raised his hands in full surrender after he was shot. Autopsy reports showed that Brown was shot six times on his body and head.

Wilson told investigators that Brown tried to grab his gun in a scuffle at his car and that he only acted in self defense.

TagsFerguson, Justice Department, michael brown