It character assassination of brown. Im going to read you a statement mere. Michael browns family is beyond outraged at the devious way the police chief has chosen to disseminate piecemeal information in a manner intended to assassinate the character of their son. Whats your response to that. My response to that is first my heart goes out to the family. I cant imagine what theyre going through. We have given you everything that we have now and everything that we can give you so from our Police Department, you have everything weve got. Protests turned violent and the highly militarized response of the Police Department only seemed to amp up the atmosphere. Fires were set, stores burned to the ground and the hadz ze of teargas that enguflfed the city requiring the president to call for calm. I know emotions are raw right now in ferguson and there are certainly passionate differences about what has happened. There are going to be different accounts of how this tragedy occurred. There are going to be differences in terms of what needs to happen Going Forward. So promises of full local and federal investigations, as well as a change in Law Enforcement tactics eventually deescalated those riots. The family of Michael Brown and protesters saw the case making its way through the court system. But in the end eventually, it did not get what they considered justice in all of this. More than a year after the shooting, a st. Louis grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. Three months after that the Justice Department concluded in its investigation saying wilson did not violate Michael Browns civil rights. So the Big Questions that we want to tackle over the next hour is, how has ferguson really changed in these past three years and how has america really changed when it comes to the issues of race and police force. We want to take you straight away to ferguson, missouri where nbcs ron mott is for us today. Ron, what have you seen there three years later . Reporter hey there, thomas. Well, as you know, on wednesday will be the third anniversary of Michael Browns tragic shooting and killing here in ferguson, missouri. Depending on the person you talk to here in town, that is either enough time or not nearly enough time to see some positive change here. Clearly there have been changes. There are a lot of new faces high up in city government, a lot of new places like this urban League CommunityEmpowerment Center behind me. But on this there is some consensus ferguson still has a lot of work to do. Theyre burning down. Reporter donald had a back row seat when ferguson erupted in a violent fury three years ago this beaweek. Riot police have faded from view and the neighborhood where Michael Brown was gunned down by Darren Wilson is calm again. But frustrations and doubts linger. It takes time. Trust is something thats extremely hard to win back. If you break that trust, sometimes you can win it back. Sometimes you cant. To win people over and restore faith in the police, the majority black city overhauled the department, appointing the first africanamerican to lead the force, attacking a problematic culture spelled out in ale damning Justice Department probe released in 2015. For starters, the Small Department is more diverse today than the day Michael Brown lost his life. In 2014, of its 55 officers, 48 were white, just four black. Now just 38 officers in uniform, 26 of them white, ten black. Change doesnt come quickly. It is a gradual step by step process if you want to do it right. Reporter part of the right approach he says is making sure his officers are known in the community. You change peoples perception, change peoples concepts of Police Department by actually getting out there and meeting them when it is not a crisis, when there are good times. Reporter his predecessor, tom jackson, retired under a cloud. In a new book recently published he contests many of the dojs findings and Public Perceptions about his leadership. Did you run a racist Police Department . No. No. It is a ridiculous assertion. Reporter while he admits the optics of browns broaddy sitting under a hot sun for hours on end contributed to tensions at the scene, something he says he regrets, gunfire added to the delay. At the time were just following protocol. There is an unruly crowd gathering around and suddenly gunshots come out from behind us. Now it is an insecure scene so we have to resecure it. Reporter today the august heat is a relentless presence here. The dangerous daily work of policing guess on amid significant change. How much has really changed in ferguson since youve been on . A lot has changed. Reporter the city Council Nearly all white three years ago is now nearly half black. Problems persist but hope is rising. There are some things we can do and some things we cant do. But i think as a community when we work together, thats when you can move mountains. Reporter there are a couple of memorials to Michael Brown in this area. One, if you can see behind me at that bench there at this new Empowerment Center in his honor. While people will certainly never forget what happened to him on that august day back in 2014 they are ready to move forward in a positive direction. Perhaps this is going to become a magnet for positive change in ferguson. The Empowerment Center was the focal point of the unrest there as it burned to the ground. Thats a fresh site with the Salvation Army there and urban League Building. Ron mott from ferguson, thank you. Joining me now from st. Louis, missouri, state senator maria nadal, as well as patricia bines, former Democratic Committee woman of ferguson township. Larry fellows, an activist who was in ferguson involved in the protests following the shooting of Michael Brown. Great to have you all with me. As we look back three years, it is hard to believe, senator, that weve come this far and seen progress, and also seen some setbacks. But lets speak specifically about with ferguson and knowing that we have an africanamerican police chief now on the job there and the force being more diverse, have the reforms put in place, especially with body cams, been helpful for ferguson . I would say so to a certain degree. But i really want to compliment the people who go to city Hall Meetings every single week or every other week to make sure that the city council is aware of the changes, the full changes, that they want to see. Oftentimes when im looking at my social media, there are folks who are still complaining, and thats good, because there should be agitation as much as possible. There had been some improvements but we certainly are not where we need to be and i hope that people continue to show their outrage and work with Police Officers, not only in ferguson, but the region. Thats whats really critical at this point. St. Louis county Police Department, theyve been behaving terribly recently. I think theyre quite happy that all the cameras are gone, but what i have seen in the last week are individuals who are africanamericans traveling on the metro who get abused and beaten and thrown against walls and slammed on the ground. So while there are some good achievements, which i am proud of, and in fact electing people who were activist on the front lines, we still have a long way to go. When it comes to the reforms we talked about there, and the senator is pointing out some issues that are outstanding, body cams being one of them, they were rated the nations worst. Do you think that was an issue of money or incompetence by local officials establishing that . You know, i think it was a fantastic, great start. Three years in i think everyone can admit were not where we warrant to be. People are still defending former actions. Im not ready to point fingers. I think that if we know that theyre some of the worst, it is time to do something about it and to really do a deep dive in seeing we know that ferguson has a budget problem. Theyre having to put in all types of reforms because of the doj consent. Is it a budget . Is it bad Decision Making . It might be a combination of both. But now that we know there is an issue, it is time to do something about it. We know that there were different actions put out, again because of the forward through ferguson report. The commission released that report in the fall of 2015. But one thing that we know about that patricia just mentioned here is the fact that they had an issue of the money that they have. They waived 1. 8 million in fines. This is after browns death and because of the decree by the doj. But dismissed about 39,000 Municipal Court dates, signed up 1,300 people for Community Service instead of paying fines. So ferguson did lose money. But what is the lesson when it comes to this Police Department knowing that it can police effectively but without violating Constitutional Rights of its Community Members . Did they learn that lesson . They havent learned that lesson. Ferguson is still in the top ten of the worst Police Departments in the country so they are not really learning a lot. I think if them hurting financially is going to fix the problem, then that needs to continuously happen. Because in st. Louis county in general, theyre still ridiculously stopping black and brown people, giving out tickets for ridiculous fines and pulling people over still. So the problem has not changed. Its slowly progressing, but in the end, like the senator said, st. Louis county police have always been a problem. So this hasnt just been ferguson, but they have been essentially still one of the top ten Police Departments in this country. We know the naacp issued this travel warning for missouri warning people of color that they travel at their own risk right now. What was your reaction to that . Its about time its absolutely about time. And let me tell you, before ferguson happened, we heard of cases as legislators of individuals traveling through Rural Missouri who ended up getting stopped by police, being in jail, and ended up dying. And for various reasons. So weve heard about those stories, especially as a black caucus. Now as we move into the current day, we hear some of the same things. In fact, a ferguson activist in the last six months told me about another death in Rural Missouri. But its not just Rural Missouri that we have to be concerned about as africanamericans. As i said before, there are individuals who travel along our metro by state who are attacked. Police are nowhere in sight. In fact, theyre sleeping on the clock, and that is absolutely terrible. We want to build a relationship with our Police Officers, but we certainly just cant trust them right now. They are not working with us. Theyre working against us. So the naacp did a wonderful thing and i want to encourage every single Membership Organization that wants to have a convention in missouri, if you have a moral compass, cancel it and go to another city because you may die. So, senator, those are some really strong words. You feel that uncertain about your own home state right now. Absolutely. And the naacp did the right thing. Because i see this all the time. The phone calls that i get. Im really concerned about it. I mean just i told you the last month, there have been several incidences in my own district. I have the airport in my district. I have ferguson in my district. There are a lot of places that need to have more protection, but also Community Relationships with our Police Departments. There are 41 municipalities that i represent, and we also have the st. Louis metropolitan Police Department in st. Louis city and st. Louis county. And while i have great friends who are Police Officers, there are a good number of them who are out there, Police Officers who are not doing a good job. And we just really need to do better. And the most important thing that i have to say right now in this whole interview is that i am not going to support the facade. There are a lot of people who are in the system who are caucasian in leadership who are elected officials who would like for people to believe that everything is okay here in st. Louis. And im leer to tell you that is not the truth, and i will not, under any circumstances, support the facade. State senator maria chappellenadal. Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your candor about this. Thank you all. We know that Michael Browns shooting is just one of the many that weve seen in the last few years that had a common outcome with no Police Officer charged, let alone moving on to a trial or a conviction. But now we have a president who recently joked about Police Brutality and an attorney general focused on providing less scrutiny to Law Enforcement departments. A look at police in the aging of trump when our special ferguson, three years later, continues after this. I have a son thats 27 thats out here. I have to talk to him every day when you are stopped by the police you dont say a word. You dont move we should not have to do this we are citizens of the United States of america. Now i have to teach my son how not to open his mouth. Rance wit. Goin up the country. Later, gary i have a motorcycle wonderful. Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Im goin up the country, baby dont you wanna go . Geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. 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Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders said he wasnt really serious. I believe he was making a joke at the time. Why would a president need to go that route thinking that Police Brutality is a joke and who would find it funny right now . The National Organization of black Law Enforcement executives certainly did not. They held a closeddoor meeting with the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, and told him, quote, we are not thugs, we are professionals. This tension comes as the president and sessions may overturn many obama era reforms that sought to bring police and communities closer together. Joining me now to discuss the future of policing in the trump era, justin hansford. Mark claxton. And carol mason, former assistant attorney general in the Obama Administration and president of john j. Houston college of justice. Paul butler is back with us, msnbc analyst and former federal prosecutor and author of choke hold, policing black plemen. Mark, i want to start first with you. Your reaction to the president s remarks there with that joke, being rougher on suspects and the president saying, you dont have to do that accommodation of being kind to their heads. Is that a good sign to the country or is that a kind of wink and a nod to get away with bad behavior . The president s comments are reprehensible, reckless, irresponsible. There should never be a time with any highlevel Government Official supporting or encouraging extra judicial violence. So i think on its face it really is a disgusting commentary and really it reflects on how he thinks what he thinks of professional Law Enforcement. I think oftentimes people have the make the assumption that hes very supportive of. But i think what it is is he is not fully aware of the complexities of the job of professional Law Enforcement