FILE – In this Monday, Aug. 18, 2014 file photo, people stand near a cloud of tear gas in Ferguson, Mo. during protests for the Aug. 9 shooting of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white police officer. The U.S. government agreed to a police request to shut down several miles of airspace surrounding Ferguson, even though authorities said their purpose was to keep media helicopters away during protests in August, according to recordings of air traffic control conversations obtained by The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
CLAYTON • State and local officials on Friday announced that while they have not negotiated with a coalition of protest groups, they did agree on some of the 19 proposed “rules of engagement” in advance of the announcement of a grand jury decision in the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown.
A coalition of roughly 50 groups asked officials earlier this month to agree to 19 rules of engagement for the police response to protests. The first was that “The first priority shall be the preservation of human life.” The groups asked police to agree to a “de-militarized response” that would ban the use of armored vehicles, rubber bullets, rifles and tear gas.
The groups also requested police respect safe spaces set up in houses of worship, and for advance notice of the decision of the grand jury considering whether to charge Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Brown, 18.
The unified police command, which includes the Missouri Highway Patrol and St. Louis County and St. Louis city police, said they agree on some of the group’s proposed rules, such as the first priority being the preservation of human life. They also agreed to a series of measures intended to facilitate communication, encourage professionalism by police, discourage aggressive acts and allow those not involved in protests to go about their lives.
They declined, however, to commit to rules about arrests, court procedures and the use of crowd control measures such as armored vehicles and tear gas, qualifying their responses.
They said subterfuge should not be used to enter safe houses but said safety and “exigent circumstances” are valid reasons for police to enter.
They said that they had no control over providing two days notice of the grand jury decision, as the protest groups asked. They said that was out of their control.
The officials — Missouri Department of Safety Director Dan Isom, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay — called for peace, and vowed that Brown’s death would not be in vain.
Slay said that officials felt many of the rules made sense or were something that they were already doing, but others would have limited officers’ ability to respond and protect people and businesses.
Slay and Dooley both had a warning however. “Violence will not be tolerated,” Slay said. Dooley jumped in, adding, “They’re gonna be arrested.”
Isom declined to comment in detail to questions about the arrests and tactics used in protests in Ferguson over the last two nights.
“I’m convinced we’re going to do what’s right,” said Dooley. “I do not expect the worst of people. . . I expect the best of people.” Dooley stressed that the rules were not a formal agreement, just a conversation.
Members of the coalition did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Most organizers have said that they hope protests will be peaceful, and vow to self-police. They have blamed police for triggering violence.
They said that the anger over the shooting of Brown and others has laid bare longer-term problems of racial profiling, a lack of diversity and accountability in law enforcement, inequality and a lack of trust in police and the judicial system.
Protests are expected in front of the Ferguson police station and in Clayton, where some protesters have pledged to shut down the business district on the first weekday after the decision is announced. Protests are also expected on a stretch of West Florissant Avenue near the burned-out QuikTrip in Ferguson and in the Shaw Neigborhood, where VonDerrit Myers Jr. was killed by a St. Louis police officer last month.
