Ferguson police chief working to gain public trust in officers and pursue "a higher level of accountability"

Nearly seven years after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, the current police chief of the city says his department is working hard to win the public's trust. 

"There is no policy that you can enact that will do away with the fear that people have or that officers have," Chief Jason Armstrong said in an interview with CBSN. "We have to create more opportunities for positive interactions that are not solely based on police functions." Armstrong, who became Ferguson's police chief in 2019, worked in law enforcement in Georgia at the time of Brown's death. He said local community members' concerns "really ignited me to get out in the community and be more involved, and kind of be the face of leading the efforts to try to build up those strong relationships between the community and the police department."