Justice Department hosts St. Louis police training

SUNSET HILLS, Mo. (AP) - A federal law enforcement team has completed the first training sessions for local police in the St. Louis area following the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer.

The Justice Department's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services worked with top commanders from Ferguson, the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and the Missouri Highway Patrol at a two-day session that concluded Friday and focused on how unintentional bias affects police work. The trainers included former police chiefs in Madison, Wisconsin, and East Palo Alto, California.

"We face a lot of resistance. We face defensiveness and even hostility," said trainer Lorie Fridell, a University of South Florida criminology professor who helped lead the session on "fair and impartial policing."

The voluntary effort, known as collaborative reform, is separate from a federal civil rights investigation into the Ferguson police shooting and a broader federal inquiry into the department's policing methods. The sessions came as a state grand jury prepares to decide this month if Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, will face charges in the death of Brown, who was black. The shooting prompted protests and sparked a national conversation about race and policing, among other issues.

Soon after Brown was killed, President Barack Obama directed the Justice Department to work with police officials in and around Ferguson to help reduce tension and build trust. Ronald Davis, the former northern California police chief who now leads the Justice Department program, said his group is "in it for the long haul," citing similar federal police reform efforts in Baltimore and New Orleans and in Sanford, Florida, after the Trayvon Martin shooting.

"This is not just about one case," he said.

Davis said the police commanders met with five community leaders, whom officials declined to identify. Future training will be provided to front-line police supervisors and trainers who can incorporate the lessons into local programs.

The White House emphasized its commitment to defusing continued tensions over the Ferguson shooting, releasing a statement Friday noting that President Barack Obama had been briefed by Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon as well as Justice Department officials who stepped in after Brown's shooting.