Police Chief of Ferguson Says Sorry
COSTELLO: The police chief of Ferguson, Missouri says he's sorry. The city has been engulfed in turmoil following the shooting of Michael Brown. In the weeks since the small town has been scarred by riots and protests and looting. Now the Police Chief Tom Jackson has taped an apology. Jason Carroll joins us to tell us more.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I think a lot of people out there were waiting for this, wondering if it would ever happen. He's been under so much scrutiny for so long, criticized for so many things, for the shooting, the way protesters were handled, criticized for the way Michael Brown's body was handled. There were many calls for his apology. We heard it in the hours, days and weeks following what happened. Also calls recently for his resignation. Finally in the past hour, Chief Tom Jackson, did speak out, issued an apology, not only to the community, but to Michael Brown's family.</s>CHIEF TOM JACKSON, FERGUSON, MISSOURI POLICE: As many of you know, my name is Tom Jackson, chief of police of the city of Ferguson. The events of the past few weeks have sent shockwaves, not just around the community here, but around the nation. Overnight I went from being a small town police chief to being a part of a conversation about racism, equality and the role of policing in that conversation. As chief of police and as a resident, I want to be part of that conversation. I also want to be part of the solution. But before we can engage in further discussion on the broader issues, I think it's important that we address the central issue that brought us here today, and that's the death of Michael Brown. I want to say this to the Brown family. No one who has not experienced the loss of a child can understand what you're feeling. I am truly sorry for the loss of your son. I'm also sorry that it took so long to remove Michael from the street. The time that it took involved very important work on the part of investigators who were trying to collect evidence and gain a true picture of what happened that day. But it was just too long and I'm truly sorry for that. Please know that the investigating officers meant no disrespect to the Brown family, to the African-American community or the people of Canfield. They were simply trying to do their jobs. There were many people who were upset about what happened in Ferguson and came here to protest peacefully. Unfortunately there were others who had a different agenda. I do want to say to any peaceful protester who did not feel I did enough to protect their constitutional right to protest I am sorry for that. The right of the people to peacefully assemble is what the police are here to protect. If anyone who was peacefully exercising that right is upset and angry, I feel responsible and I am sorry. I'm also aware of the pain and the feeling of mistrust felt in some of the African-American community towards the police department. The city belongs to all of us and we're all a part of this community. It is clear we have much work to do. As a community, a city and a nation we have real problems to solve, not just in Ferguson, but the entire region and beyond. For any mistakes I have made I take full responsibility. It's an honor to serve the city of Ferguson and the people who live there. I look forward to working with you in the future to solve our problems and once again, I deeply apologize to the Brown family.</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A couple things that really struck me about that, one of the things he said there, he said he wants to be part of the solution. Carol, I have to tell you in the days following the shooting when I was down there in Ferguson, when I spoke to the chief that was one of the points that he wanted to make to me over and over. He said, Jason, I do want to be part of the solution here. Remember, this is a chief who took over in 2010. A lot of the problems that have existed in that department with that community have been going on for generations. He was aware of that. He said what they were trying to do was bring in diversity training with some of the officers. There's still so many problems that exist in that department. One, lack of diversity. You've got some four officers who are African-American on the force, more than 50 of the officers are white in serving a community that is overwhelmingly African-American. You have a history there of mistrust between the African-American community and the department. It's going to have to work on that as well. Maybe this is a first step. We'll see.</s>COSTELLO: Let me ask you this, because I was talking to Paul Callan about this earlier. He's a cynical sort. The voters of Ferguson elect the officials that appoint the police chief. Maybe Chief Jackson is just concerned about losing his job.</s>CARROLL: I don't know. As a reporter sometimes all you have to go on is your gut, right? In speaking with this man repeatedly, I do get the sense and I know there are others out there as well, even some in the African-American community that get the sense that this man is trying to make an effort, this man. But still you have entire department that you've got to deal with different officers with different points of view. So again, it's just a gut, but my gut says this is a man who is trying. His motivation for that, I think that's up for debate.</s>COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll, thanks so much. I appreciate it. Later today, Ana Cabrera, will sit down with Chief Tom Jackson. Her one-on-one interview will air tonight on Anderson Cooper. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, outrage and fed up with ISIS young Muslims are speaking out and taking a stand. Up next, the social media campaign taking the internet by storm.