It has been a year and I am still excited about serving the residents of Ferguson. With all of the community’s challenges, there is not a better community to live, work and play in. Below are highlights for my first year as Mayor.
Thank you for the opportunity to share my thoughts concerning the City of Ferguson and United States Department of Justice, Consent Decree. For the last several years Ferguson has been working diligently to be in compliance with the Consent Decree. I will be brief.
The leadership of Ferguson, which was driven by correcting the historic disparities in justice and policing in our city, has embraced and taken ownership of this Consent Decree. We are working to meet the compliance goals of the consent decree within the next twenty-four months and to move to the next stage, monitoring, and adherence to the agreement. The recent hiring of Troy Doyle as Ferguson’s Chief of Police sends a strong message that this city, the City of Ferguson, is committed to the urgency, accountability, and a forward looking/proactive environment to guide our police department who is committed to gaining the respect of our constituents, practicing constitutional policing, and is centered on respecting the public while also maximizing public safety. These two critical qualities do not conflict but instead complement each other. We are going to get it done!