The department needs to be gutted from the top down. There is obviously something wrong there. I've heard this situation in Ferguson has been brewing for a long time and people have been waiting for something like this to happen.
I've lived in this area all my life. And there are a lot of areas that welcome diversity, and sadly, there are some that do not.
Having East St. Louis in the vicinity certainly doesn't help matters, with the corruption that's there, and that does nothing but help add perception to those who are raised to be prejudiced against black people. Hell, my father is even one, as he grew up in East St. Louis and witnessed first hand how quickly the town fell to corruption, and hence the "white flight" took place, and those who were living in poor communities in St. Louis moved there to at least get decent houses, and hopefully restore a good community. Sadly, that did not happen.
I've lost an uncle to ESL violence (related a lot to Michael Brown situation, albeit reverse since it was a black guard that shot my uncle), and my father and my other uncle were both tied, and pretty much kidnapped for a night until they were released. They were beaten. They were robbed, and my father had a gun pointed to his head while I was a 3 month old at home. My father has a lot of resentment towards black people because of this, and I have tried really hard to change his mindset. Its a tough thing to do when one is raised before the civil rights battle took place.
I know I'm rambling, but this area has been a kettle pot boiling for years. Mostly due to those communities that do not welcome diversity. Ferguson has been one of those communities, and obviously, its all coming out now. I just hope that some good can come out of this in the end.
