WASHINGTON -- The widespread mistrust of law enforcement agencies that was exposed by the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Missouri exists in too many other communities and is having a corrosive effect on the nation, particularly its children, President Barack Obama said.
The president's address Saturday at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual awards dinner occurred on the same night a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. -- where Michael Brown, 18, was killed Aug. 9 -- was shot. On Sunday morning, an off-duty St. Louis police officer was injured when three men fired shots into his personal vehicle.
During his speech, Obama blamed the feeling of wariness on persistent racial disparities in the administration of justice. He said these misgivings serve only to harm communities that are most in need of effective law enforcement.
"It makes folks who are victimized by crime and need strong policing reluctant to go to the police because they may not trust them," he said.
"And the worst part of it is it scars the hearts of our children," said Obama, adding that it leads some youth to unnecessarily fear people who do not look like them and others to constantly feel under suspicion. "That is not the society we want. It's not the society that our children deserve."
Obama addressed Brown's shooting, saying his death and the raw emotion it produced had reawakened the country to the fact that "a gulf of mistrust" exists between residents and police in too many communities.
The shooting sparked days of violent protests and racial unrest in the predominantly black St. Louis suburb of Ferguson. The police officer who shot Brown is white.
Although there were two protests of Brown's shooting happening when the officer was shot Saturday night, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said he didn't think they were related.
"It didn't happen within the proximity of the protest area," he said. "This is a fairly secluded area. I wouldn't have any reason to think that it was linked in any way, shape or form."
The shooting occurred in a neighborhood off West Florissant Avenue, a major artery in the area, about 2 miles from where Brown was shot and killed
Two men fled when the officer approached them about 9 p.m. because the community center they were standing outside of was closed, Belmar said at a news conference early Sunday. When the officer gave chase, one of the men turned around and shot him in the arm.
Belmar said the officer is expected to survive, but he didn't identify the officer or provide more details about his condition. He said the officer returned fire, but police have no indication either assailant was shot.
About midnight Saturday, two dozen officers stood near a group of about 100 protesters who mingled on a street corner, occasionally shouting, "No justice, no peace." By Sunday afternoon, the streets of Ferguson were quiet, with no visible signs of police or protesters.
Police had closed part of a nearby street as helicopters and officers from several law enforcement agencies canvassed the area for the attackers.
Earlier Saturday, Brown's parents said they were unmoved by a videotaped apology released days earlier by Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, whose attempt to march with protesters Thursday sparked a clash that led to several arrests.
When asked whether Jackson should be fired, Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, said he should be. Brown's father, Michael Brown Sr., said that rather than an apology, they would like Darren Wilson -- the officer who shot their son -- to be arrested.
On Sunday, not far from Ferguson, an off-duty St. Louis city police officer was injured on Interstate 70 when three men fired shots into his personal vehicle, a police spokesman said.
Schron Jackson said the officer, who has nearly 20 years of experience, was treated and released from a hospital for a minor injury to his arm from broken glass. She said there is no reason to believe the two shootings were related.
Jackson said the three men fled in a black sedan. The officer, who was wearing his uniform pants but not his uniform shirt, did not return fire.
"It is unclear at this time if the officer was targeted or if this was a random act of violence," the county Police Department said in a statement Sunday morning.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon expressed sympathy for the injured officers in a conference call Sunday from Afghanistan. He described the violence as "a challenge for everyone."
Call to vote
In Washington on Saturday, Obama challenged black voters to turn out for November's congressional elections if they want to see more of the racial progress that allowed him to become the nation's first black president.
Obama ticked off a list of achievements that he said showed the "enormous progress" in the U.S., including steady job growth, a decline in the number of people without health insurance and a falling crime rate.
Prayers and good intentions aren't enough, he said.
"We have to get back to our schools, our offices, our churches, our beauty shops, our barbershops," he said. "Make sure people know there is an election coming up. They need to know how to register, and they need to know how and when to vote. We have to tell them to push back against the cynics."
Obama also announced the addition of a "community challenge" to My Brother's Keeper, a public-private partnership he launched earlier this year to improve the lives of young men from minority groups. Communities across the U.S. will be challenged to adopt strategies to help all young people succeed.
Obama said government cannot play the primary role in the lives of children, but it "can bring folks together" to make a difference for them.
Helping girls from minority groups deal with inequality is also important, he said, and part of the continuing mission of the White House Council on Women and Girls. The effort has involved first lady Michelle Obama.
Obama noted that black girls are more likely than their white peers to be suspended, jailed and physically harassed, and that black women struggle daily with "biases that perpetuate oppressive standards for how they're supposed to look and how they're supposed to act."
"I've got a vested interest in making sure that our daughters have the same opportunities as boys do," he said.
Information for this article was contributed by Darlene Superville, Jim Salter and Alan Scher Zagier of The Associated Press; by Ashley Southall and Emma G. Fitzsimmons of The New York Times; and by Megan O'Neil, Phil Mattingly and Angela Greiling Keane of Bloomberg News.
A Section on 09/29/2014