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| 'Ready for the challenge': Ferguson's new police chief takes over department | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| As he prepares to take over the troubled police department of Ferguson, Missouri, veteran Miami officer Delrish Moss will call once more on healing skills he learned after race riots ripped apart the city of his birth, more than three decades ago. | As he prepares to take over the troubled police department of Ferguson, Missouri, veteran Miami officer Delrish Moss will call once more on healing skills he learned after race riots ripped apart the city of his birth, more than three decades ago. |
| Moss cut his teeth in circumstances eerily similar to those awaiting him in Missouri. In 1980, trust in the Miami police was at an all-time low. Following the acquittal of four white officers accused of beating an unarmed black motorist to death, violence left 18 people dead and caused more than $100m in property damage. | Moss cut his teeth in circumstances eerily similar to those awaiting him in Missouri. In 1980, trust in the Miami police was at an all-time low. Following the acquittal of four white officers accused of beating an unarmed black motorist to death, violence left 18 people dead and caused more than $100m in property damage. |
| “Miami’s been through a lot of things and I think we’ve come out looking good and feeling good,” Moss told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. | “Miami’s been through a lot of things and I think we’ve come out looking good and feeling good,” Moss told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. |
| “What I hope is that my unique perspective can bring some insight to Ferguson or at least something to Ferguson that will help them heal like Miami has. Miami is the best training ground. I lived in a place where riots took place and shortly after I was a police officer on the other side of that line.” | “What I hope is that my unique perspective can bring some insight to Ferguson or at least something to Ferguson that will help them heal like Miami has. Miami is the best training ground. I lived in a place where riots took place and shortly after I was a police officer on the other side of that line.” |
| To those who know Moss, and regard him as a “class act”, Miami’s loss of the respected 51-year-old police major will be Missouri’s gain. In a 32-year career in south Florida, he was best-known as the public face of the department, its spokesman through crises including rioting in Little Havana in 2000, when Cuban rafter Elián González, aged just six, was forcibly and controversially repatriated by federal agents. | To those who know Moss, and regard him as a “class act”, Miami’s loss of the respected 51-year-old police major will be Missouri’s gain. In a 32-year career in south Florida, he was best-known as the public face of the department, its spokesman through crises including rioting in Little Havana in 2000, when Cuban rafter Elián González, aged just six, was forcibly and controversially repatriated by federal agents. |
| More recently, Miami has drawn attention for a high number of police-involved shootings of black and Latino men and youths. | More recently, Miami has drawn attention for a high number of police-involved shootings of black and Latino men and youths. |
| The invaluable experience Moss will take to Ferguson comes from his service as public service aide, patrolman, homicide detective and, most recently, senior officer in charge of community and media relations. He has worked closely with minority and youth groups in depressed areas of the city. It was not uncommon to see him in the departure lounge at Miami international airport, leading groups of young people on cultural outreach trips to Europe. | The invaluable experience Moss will take to Ferguson comes from his service as public service aide, patrolman, homicide detective and, most recently, senior officer in charge of community and media relations. He has worked closely with minority and youth groups in depressed areas of the city. It was not uncommon to see him in the departure lounge at Miami international airport, leading groups of young people on cultural outreach trips to Europe. |
| “He is an expert in police community relations, and that is what that community needs now,” Rodolfo Llanes, the Miami police chief, told the city’s Herald newspaper last month when Moss was shortlisted for the Ferguson job. Moss’s close friend John Rivera, president of the Dade County police benevolent association, described him simply as “a class act”. | “He is an expert in police community relations, and that is what that community needs now,” Rodolfo Llanes, the Miami police chief, told the city’s Herald newspaper last month when Moss was shortlisted for the Ferguson job. Moss’s close friend John Rivera, president of the Dade County police benevolent association, described him simply as “a class act”. |
| Both believe the new chief is well qualified to quickly address the racial imbalance within the Ferguson police department, which at the time of the shooting of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson in August 2014 had three black officers and 50 white. According to the 2010 census, more than 67% of Ferguson’s 21,000 residents are black. | Both believe the new chief is well qualified to quickly address the racial imbalance within the Ferguson police department, which at the time of the shooting of Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson in August 2014 had three black officers and 50 white. According to the 2010 census, more than 67% of Ferguson’s 21,000 residents are black. |
| “One of the first orders of business when I get out to Ferguson is to make sure that the department is more reflective of the community,” Moss said, “that people who feel they have a stake in the police department and how it serves the community are sitting at the table making some of those decisions. | “One of the first orders of business when I get out to Ferguson is to make sure that the department is more reflective of the community,” Moss said, “that people who feel they have a stake in the police department and how it serves the community are sitting at the table making some of those decisions. |
| If we’re transparent, if we’re persistent, we listen and communicate, we stand a great chance of moving forward | If we’re transparent, if we’re persistent, we listen and communicate, we stand a great chance of moving forward |
| “I know when I get there I’m going to face some pushback from the community, going to face some pushback from members of the department. Change doesn’t come easily but I’m ready for that challenge, I’ve been doing the training for that challenge for the last 32 years. | “I know when I get there I’m going to face some pushback from the community, going to face some pushback from members of the department. Change doesn’t come easily but I’m ready for that challenge, I’ve been doing the training for that challenge for the last 32 years. |
| “If we’re transparent, if we’re persistent, we listen and communicate, we stand a great chance of moving forward.” | “If we’re transparent, if we’re persistent, we listen and communicate, we stand a great chance of moving forward.” |
| In his role as Miami’s public information officer, Moss made improved communication between the department and citizens a high priority. One tale he likes to relate is an episode he says got him interested in a police career. | In his role as Miami’s public information officer, Moss made improved communication between the department and citizens a high priority. One tale he likes to relate is an episode he says got him interested in a police career. |
| As a young man living in the predominantly black neighbourhood of Overtown in the early 1980s, he recalls being stopped in the street by two white officers who pulled up in their patrol car, threw him up against a wall and frisked him. He said they never spoke to him before they drove off. | As a young man living in the predominantly black neighbourhood of Overtown in the early 1980s, he recalls being stopped in the street by two white officers who pulled up in their patrol car, threw him up against a wall and frisked him. He said they never spoke to him before they drove off. |
| “I was embarrassed and scared,” Moss told the Herald. “I decided I needed to become a police officer to teach these people how to treat people. Also, I hoped to become his boss and fire the guy.” | “I was embarrassed and scared,” Moss told the Herald. “I decided I needed to become a police officer to teach these people how to treat people. Also, I hoped to become his boss and fire the guy.” |
| Other memories of that era, and recent conversations with a relative in St Louis, persuaded him to apply for his new job. | Other memories of that era, and recent conversations with a relative in St Louis, persuaded him to apply for his new job. |
| “I saw Ferguson and started thinking back to when I started,” Moss said. “I lived in Overtown when it burned. You see things being destroyed. The people hurt the most are not the police or the businesses outside the area. It’s the people who live there. And I was one of those families.” | “I saw Ferguson and started thinking back to when I started,” Moss said. “I lived in Overtown when it burned. You see things being destroyed. The people hurt the most are not the police or the businesses outside the area. It’s the people who live there. And I was one of those families.” |
| Having lived in Miami all his life, the jazz music-loving Moss said he would miss the city and its Cuban coffees. He said he intended to hang a large framed print of Miami Beach on his new office wall, to help stave off homesickness. | Having lived in Miami all his life, the jazz music-loving Moss said he would miss the city and its Cuban coffees. He said he intended to hang a large framed print of Miami Beach on his new office wall, to help stave off homesickness. |
| Respected by fellow officers for his level-headedness, Moss also boasts an incisive sense of humour that has often brought welcome levity to otherwise serious situations. | Respected by fellow officers for his level-headedness, Moss also boasts an incisive sense of humour that has often brought welcome levity to otherwise serious situations. |
| In 2000, after a New York Post reporter allegedly stabbed a television cameraman with a pen during a squabble outside the house at which Elián González was staying, Moss posted a notice at the entrance to the media area, warning journalists they were subject to search. | In 2000, after a New York Post reporter allegedly stabbed a television cameraman with a pen during a squabble outside the house at which Elián González was staying, Moss posted a notice at the entrance to the media area, warning journalists they were subject to search. |
| “We’re going to be taking all writing instruments away from you,” he said with a straight face at a press conference. “And issuing Crayola crayons.” | “We’re going to be taking all writing instruments away from you,” he said with a straight face at a press conference. “And issuing Crayola crayons.” |