Chief: Rioting Town's Police Force is Too White

The Missouri police department at the center of four nights of riots over the shooting of an unarmed black teenager is too white and needs to diversify while forging a partnership with its residents, one of the nation’s top black officers says.

DeKalb County, GA, Police Chief Cedric Alexander, the president of theNational Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, will speak about the need for a police department that works in partnership with its community when he travels to the embattled St. Louis suburb of Ferguson this weekend. The town’s police department is 94 percent white with only three African-American officers among a force of 50.

“You have to have that representation as you do in business and industry and public service -- whatever the case may happen to be,” Alexander toldWXIA TV. “That is certainly something that has to be looked at by them and has to be addressed.”

Witnesses, Police Disagree

Civil unrest has simmered in Ferguson and made national news since the weekend shooting of Michael Brown, who was supposed to start college this week. The teenager was shot on Saturday after he and a friend were walking in the street and met a police officer. Brown’s friend, Dorian Johnson, said that the officer attacked Brown, then shot at the teen as he was trying to get away, says the Huffington Post.

Ferguson Police claim that Brown, 18, attacked the officer, and said Wednesday that the officer involved in the altercation was injured. Several witnesses have said that they saw Brown with his hands up in the air when he was shot, the website reports.

The city’s police chief, Thomas Jackson, said there is no patrol car dashcam video of Brown’s shooting; the department does not have cameras in its 18 cruisers.

DeKalb County Police Chief Alexander tells WXIA-TV that he believes a lack of diversity on Ferguson’s police force hurts the department’s ability to relate to residents. A strategic plan must be put in place that addresses diversity in Ferguson, he says.

Message from Black Law Enforcement Group

One of the things Chief Alexander has said repeatedly is that he will work to support the larger Ferguson community and especially the law enforcement community. While his itinerary in Missouri is still in flux, Alexander will likely meet with police and community leaders. His goal is to address community unrest and how authorities ensure there is justice and transparency in the Brown case, as well as respecting the leadership of Chief Jackson.

The turmoil on Ferguson’s streets demonstrates the lack of partnership between the community and law enforcement there, says NOBLE’s executive director Dwayne Crawford.

“The people of Ferguson, Missouri, feel disenfranchised,” he told Patch.

Alexander has publicly talked about the legacy of NOBLE in establishing community policing practices. That approach means that law enforcement is part of the community, reflects the demographics of the community, and that its actions are transparent, Crawford says.

“What you’re seeing now is the result of those things not being done,” he adds.

Protests Continue in Streets

While Brown’s family has called for an end to the violence, crowds have continued to take to the streets, and police in riot gear have used tear gas and rubber bullets to control crowds.

The mayhem, which has sparked a storm of debate on social media, included the arrest of reporters for The Washington Post and the Huffington Post Wednesday. Both men were taken to the police station and detained before being freed without charges being filed. They tweeted about the encounter, sharing video of police ordering everyone out of a McDonald’s where media were working, and a first-person report of the arrests is on The Washington Post website.

At least 70 heavily armed SWAT officers with armored vehicles responded to what reporters and participants have said was a largely peaceful protest Wednesday afternoon and ordered the crowd to disperse, HuffPost’s Ryan Reilly reported.

»PHOTO: Screenshot from KSDK of police using tear gas to clear the streets in Ferguson, MO, Wednesday night.