After several days of clashes between police and demonstrators, the Missouri State Highway Patrol is taking over operations from local police in Ferguson, after widespread criticism of heavy handed tactics used by riot officers.
Police had previously met demonstrators with heavy riot armour, SWAT trucks and sniper posts, and even arrested journalists covering the protests after police shot dead a young black male.
18 year old Michael Brown was shot and killed on Saturday and after days of unrest the police have released the name of the officer who discharged the shots.
The police was criticised widely, including by President Obama, for the heavy handed crackdown on protests, which were fuelled by the withholding of the officers name. Most of the local police in Ferguson are white, unrepresentative of the majority-black population of the town.
Captain Ronald S. Johnson, an African-American Ferguson native, has taken over security of the town and had an immediate impact, removing the heavy handed gear and tactics and mingling with protestors, according to the Washington Post.
“I’m not afraid to be in this crowd,” Johnson declared to reporters, according to the Washington Post.
“When I see a young lady cry because of fear of this uniform, that’s a problem.” Johnson said. “We’ve got to solve that.”
President Barack Obama instructed the Department of Justice on Thursday to monitor the reaction of law enforcement authorities in Missouri in the aftermath of the killing, but has so far stopped short of ordering a more dramatic federal intervention.