Population of Ferguson is 67% African American and has a police force of 57

[Bandit]

Only three of them are black. How is that possible?

[uponit7771]

1. Racism - Look at PD Chiefs wifes Tumblr post.

http://mrscorpio.tumblr.com/post/94581174074/angrywocunited-so-the-wife-of-ferguson-police

Also, I live in KC... the otherside of MO and LEOs are worse, there's no vested interest in the community thriving so they see themselves as an army and the residents as the enemy.

To the LEOs in MO largest cities the poor area residents are animals

[Skidmore]

4. Look up her FB page...

she appears to be a fan of Cruz.

[justiceischeap]

6. The current police chief is Colonel Thomas Jackson

His assistant chief is Colonel Joe Mokwa.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Police_Department_(Missouri)

Is she married to a prior police chief?

[justhanginon]

2. I used to live in Ferguson some

twenty years ago. It was a middle to lower income community with a pretty good mix of races. I could walk safely just about anywhere and I liked it because it was close to public transportation. I worked in downtown St. Louis and thus did not have to drive. Also close to shopping, banks restaurants etc. all in walking distance

What is happening now is really a shame. It seems these small town police departments have no racial diversity in their police departments, either on the street or at the command level and have no desire to change. Until and unless they get differing points of view from varying groups of their citizens, this situation will never change and history will keep repeating itself.

One of the local tv stations was interviewing a woman who looked suspiciously like the chiefs wife and she ranted the usual crap and wanted them to immediately call out the National Guard. This is the kind of attitude that just kindles more resentment. Seemed exceedingly nasty.

The rioting and looting has to stop. It is so counterproductive and people see that portrayed on tv and forget about the act that sparked the peaceful demonstrations. So far it seems that all those arrested for looting were not from Ferguson but surrounding areas.

I really have no answers other than at the local governing level there needs to be a completely open dialogue between all interested groups of residents and the powers that be better heed their concerns. I also think changes must be made in the police department from top to bottom and it must be sooner rather than later. They must have some diversity.

I wish the community well in the future.

[0rganism]

3. i heard it also has an all-white school board

at the very least, i hope the population is motivated to vote in future municipal elections

[Lee-Lee]

5. Part of the problem

Is that with the much higher arrest rates for African American youth by the time most are the minimum age to apply they will often have disqualifying history.

Another part is the higher dropout rate in the AA community.

If you don't finish high school, or don't finish with good enough basic skills to make it through the academy you won't get hired.

If you have prior arrests they are not automatically disqualifying, but they make it harder. If they are felonies or violent or drug related misdemeanors, it makes it almost impossible for a lot of departments.

Throw on top of that a culture of mistrust of police in many communities and you raise kids there who don't want to grow up and be cops.

LE is in general a very white profession. An agency seeking diversity has to be very proactive doing it.