They’ve lined the streets with police in riot gear, brought in a new black commander with an empathetic manner, imposed a curfew, lifted it and deployed the National Guard – and still the violence erupts nightly in the town of Ferguson, Missouri.
After nine days of unrest following the fatal police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, law enforcement and political leaders are left struggling for answers to a frustrating question: What can we do to restore peace to the community?
“It’s the question of the week, the month and the year: How do you bring this to a conclusion?” asked Thomas Nolan, a former Boston police officer and criminal justice professor at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
One answer, Nolan said, rests with the police, who should take the initiative to meet with non-violent protesters, pledge to scale back some of the more military-style methods of crowd control, such as sound cannons, and increase the recruitment of black police officers – something the city said it plans to address. Only three members of Ferguson’s 53-person force are black, even though about two-thirds of the residents are black.
“If the police keep showing up every night in force with a military presence, these protesters are going to keep showing up,” Nolan said. “Something has got to give. … Police are trained not to back down. I think they need to reimagine this and realize their responsibility ultimately is public safety and not to save face. If it takes making some concessions and meeting people they’re not enthusiastic about meeting with – that’s what needs to be done. If not, who can say how long this goes on?”