louis grand jury decided not to indict darren wilson in the shooting death of michael brown. three months after that the justice department concluded in its investigation saying wilson did not violate michael brown's civil rights. so the big questions that we want to tackle over the next hour is, how has ferguson really changed in these past three years and how has america really changed when it comes to the issues of race and police force. we want to take you straight away to ferguson, missouri where nbc's ron mott is for us today. ron, what have you seen there three years later? >> reporter: hey there, thomas. well, as you know, on wednesday will be the third anniversary of michael brown's tragic shooting and killing here in ferguson, missouri. depending on the person you talk to here in town, that is either enough time or not nearly enough time to see some positive change here. clearly there have been changes. there are a lot of new faces high up in city government, a lot of new places like this urban league community empowerment center behind me. but on this there is some

ferguson, missouri after an unarmed black teenager, michael brown, was shot and killed by officer darren wilson. will's and was not criminally charged but did resign from the ferguson police department and in minnesota, jeronimo yanez was acquitted of murder after a shot and killed philando castile in 2016 at a routine traffic stop and who received a $40,000 payout as part of the severance package. according to this tracker, 2017, 605 people have been shot and killed by oer country including 132 people who are black. back to the terrence sterling case, no word onweather officer trainor will resign. hilary lane, wusa9. >> we are staying on top of every angle of the story with breaking information on air and on our wusa9 mobile app. download it and get updates on our website as well at wusa9.com. >>> higher-ups at walmart all apologizing for display at a store. this one is striking a sour note with parents as kids get ready for the new school year. >>> these trucks are like a guillotine on the road. >> can you imagine dying in a crash like this? it's called an under ride accident. a car slides un

riot police have faded from view and the neighborhood where michael brown was gunned down by darren wilson again, but frustrations and doubts linger. >> it takes time. fr trust is something that's extremely hard to win back. if you break that trust, sometimes you can win it back, sometimes you can't. >> to win people over, the city overhauled city government, attacking a problematic culture spelled out in a damning justice department probe in 2015. for starters, the small department is more diverse today than the day michael brown lost his life. in 2014, of its 55 officers, 48 were white, just four black. now just 38 officers in uniform, 26 of them white, ten black. >> change doesn't come quickly. it's a gradual step-by-step process if you want to do it right. >> part of the right approach, he says, is making sure his officers are known in the community. >> you change people's perception and concept of the police department by actually getting out there and meeting them when it's not a crisis, when there are good times. >> his predecessor retired under a cloud. in a new book recently publi

brown jr was tragically shot and killed in the streets by then ferguson missouri police officer darren wilson and the humid dog days of the summer of two thousand and fourteen brown's murder in the dubious actions of ferguson city officials and its aftermath was just the match to gasoline the broad longstanding racial tensions between law enforcement and black communities across the united states back into the headlines. killing in the violent militarized police response to the protests over his death helped lead to the exponential rise of the black lives matter movement who originally came into being after the death of trayvon martin at the hands of george zimmerman who like officer wilson was never actually held accountable for committing any crime despite having the death of a young black man on his hands after brown's death we saw the violent police killings of twelve year old tamir rice in cleveland walter scott and some.

brown jr was tragically shot and killed in the streets by then ferguson missouri police officer darren wilson and the humid dog days of the summer of two thousand and fourteen brown's murder in the dubious actions of ferguson city officials and its aftermath was just the match to gasoline the broad longstanding racial tensions between law enforcement and black communities across the united states back into the headlines problems killing in the violent militarized police response to the protests over his death helped lead to the exponential rise of the black lives matter movement who originally came into being after the death of trayvon martin at the hands of george zimmerman who like officer wilson was never actually held accountable for committing any crime despite having the death of a young black man on his hands. after brown's death we saw the violent police killings of twelve year old tamir rice in cleveland walter scott in south carolina freddy gray and baltimore and recently philander steele in minnesota just to name a few. these deaths in the bureaucratic resistance to justice surroun

spot where unarmed african american teenager michael brown was killed by white police officer darren wilsonhree years ago today, sparking an uprising in ferguson and nationwide protests against police brutality. the -- police brutality. the memorial of teddy bears, candles, and handwritten notes sits on the exact spot where michael brown's body lay in the street for more than four hours after the fatal shooting. in the baking hot sunshine. and beloved mexican cartoonist eduardo del rio, known to the world as rius, has died. for five decades, rius authored dozens of books and thousands of comic strips satirizing politicians, educating people about socialism, environmentalism and history. expressing solidarity with revolutionary movements across latin america. he's the author of the bestselling book "marx for beginners." he died in morelos, mexico, at the age of 83. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. we begin today's show looking at north korea. tensions escalated sharply after trump suggested he is preparing to start a nuclear war, threatening to unleash fire

the neighborhood where michael brown was gunned down by darren wilson is calm again.rations and doubts linger. >> it takes time. trust is something that's extremely hard to win back. if you break that trust, sometimes you can win it back, sometimes you can't. >> reporter: to win people over and restore faith in the police, the majority black city overhaull overhaulled. spelled out in a damning justice department probe released in 2015. for starters, the small department is more diverse than the day michael brown lost his life. in to 14, of its 55 officers, 48 were white, just 4 black. now, just 38 officers in uniform, 26 of them white, 10 black. >> change doesn't come quickly. it's a gradual step by step process if you want to do it right. >> reporter: part of the right approach he says is making sure his officers are known in the community. >> you change people's perception, you change people's concepts of the police department by actually getting out there, meeting them, when it's not a crisis, when there are good times. >> reporter: his predecessor tom jackson reti

brown was killed in a confrontation with police officer darren wilson, who was not criminally chargedcident. what resulted was outrage throughout the st. louis suburb after a series of violent days and nights of protests. nbc's ron mott is in ferguson today for us, and ron, with a good sunday to you, how has this community recovered since 2014, and is it still ongoing? >> reporter: hey there, alex, good day to you. a lot of folks here find it hard to believe it's been three years since michael brown was shot and killed, not far from here, just around the street and down the corner. there was a lot of ugliness that followed that shooting. one of the ugly things was the quiktrip convenience store that once stood here. now there's a beautiful building here, the urban community league empowerment center. they have a program called save our sons that is targeting young african-american men and trying to get them into gainful employment, so the thrust of the employment will be job placement and job training, so a lot of new faces and places, but a lot of the residents think there's a lot mo

that even on the day officials finally released the name of the officer involved in the shooting, darren wilsoneased surveillance video of a robbery that brown was accused of just minutes before his

brown jr was tragically shot and killed in the streets by then ferguson missouri police officer darren wilson and the humid dog days of the summer of two thousand and fourteen brown's murder in the dubious actions of ferguson city officials and its aftermath was just the match to gasoline the broad.

we've got an unbelievable union in the pfa, the support from day one from gordon taylor and from darren wilsonn the first point of contact has been exemplary. everything comes up after many, many years, but we have been able to support each other in that process and that's what we want to do with saveis and that's what we want to do with save is to help make everybody else pa rt of save is to help make everybody else part of a process in terms of improving the safeguarding landscape and making sure that the survivors liaison and victim support is where it needs to be. so, it is great comfort and we've enjoyed this work. that's the most important thing and that's why we intend to carry it on. and yourself, ian? the impact has been profound. the impact this time around was greater thanit impact this time around was greater than it was 20 years ago. i am no longer working where i was working. i walked away from that line of work. the impact of my partner, children has been huge. i would be lying if i said it was not. what has come out of it, it is something very positive. i am a great believer yo

that were more egregious than ferguson but they singled ferguson out, of course because of the darren wilsonthe time. by the way, if you really want to issue a travel warning, i think the naacp should start in areas of chicago, maybe the south side, the west side. so, you know, i think america is just sickened of this run to could these types of things. pete: they put out a statement from their naacp president cheryl clay saying. this our ongoing issues of racial profiling, discrimination, harassment and excess violence towards people of color have been further exacerbated by the passage and signing of this senate bill 43. what's your response to her? >> again, if she looks at the actual laws. like, for example, when ferguson was being accused of this type of thing where they would say you are targeting blacks, there were nine other municipalities that had higher populations of blacks that were run by black legislatures who were doing exactly what ferguson was doing times two. steve: they are just updating the law. >> yeah, essentially. steve: bringing it up to the times. >> to the times to