Hope and anger in Ferguson amid new police chief and continued protests

Perhaps there is no better image for how much has changed in Ferguson, Missouri since late 2014 — and how much has not — than Monday's swearing-in ceremony for new Police Chief Delrish Moss. 

Moss, the department's first black chief of police, spoke about punishing officers who abuse their positions, and was himself a victim of unwarranted police searches as he grew up in Miami. When he finished speaking, the crowd stood and applauded.

And while the mood at that moment was hopeful, protesters had also gathered to demonstrate against city attorney Stephanie Karr, who has also served as the city's prosecutor since 2011, a dual role that the Department of Justice called a conflict of interest.

Ferguson is trying to replace Karr as prosecutor, but her role as attorney is still more than troublesome to many. She continues to go after residents for "failure to comply" charges, often with little-to-no evidence, and in some cases where the DOJ has said she is abusing the law.

Protesters attended Moss's ceremony, but also walked to Karr's house.

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Moss didn't appear to be under any illusions about the job ahead, or the city's relationship with its police. 

“I don’t think I come in here offering some magic pill or magic solution curing all the problems of Ferguson,” Moss said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

Ferguson's issues came to national attention in August, 2014, when a white police officer fatally shot a black teenager named Michael Brown. 

Weeks of protests against police abuse followed, and have continued intermittently ever since. 

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