Ferguson hires a new interim police chief, city manager

GLENDALE, Az. - The city of Ferguson has a new interim police chief after the last one resigned in the fallout of the Michael Brown slaying.

Officials plan to announce the new interim chief, Andre Anderson, at a press conference at 9 a.m. local time, reports CBS affiliate KMOV in St. Louis.

Anderson was previously a commander with the Glendale Police Department in Arizona. His arrival coincides with the hiring of the new interim city manager Ed Beasley, who also comes from Glendale and was the city manager there.

"I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work," said Anderson, a Philadelphia native, Army veteran and boxer who acknowledged that he hoped to be considered for the permanent chief's position.

Anderson pledged to foster within Ferguson's department the "respect, cultural awareness and the professionalism this community deserves," and he asked the populace to help him "set a course in the history books that clearly proves that peace prevails." New officers, he said, should "reflect the demographics of the community."

Alan Eickhoff was named as Ferguson's interim police chief after embattled Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson resigned in March.

KMOV reports that two years ago, Anderson applied to be a police chief in a small Arizona town and, during the hiring process, stated he had a "very diverse background in working with different diversity and different groups."

Anderson told KMOV he just found out he had been offered the job on Tuesday.

Jackson resigned as chief seven months after the shooting death of 18-year-old African American teen Michael Brown by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, who was later cleared of criminal charges by a grand jury and the Justice Department.

Despite no criminal charges in that case, the incident prompted a Department of Justice review of the city's treatment of African Americans. The review results in a scathing report that heavily criticized the Ferguson police department for bias against African American citizens, and said the city often acted as if it saw them as sources of revenue.

The report charged that police disproportionately use excessive force against blacks and that black drivers are stopped and searched far more often than white motorists, even though they're less likely to be carrying contraband.

The August 9, 2014 shooting of Brown touched off months of sometimes violent protests in Ferguson, then later around the nation.