USC Professor Weighs In on Police Presence in Ferguson

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — “It may frankly be too late to make the situation better,” said Seth Stoughton, Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law Stoughton joined ABC Columbia News, by phone Tuesday, to talk about the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and what law enforcement needs to do moving forward. “The situation, as it is right now, requires a heavier police presence than the immediate aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting,” said Stoughton An aftermath that, he says, showed great division between the community and the police department. He says the time between the shooting and the grand jury’s decision didn’t leave enough time for police to make a true difference. “In the grand scheme of things it’s a very, very short period of time. There’s a limited opportunity for police to move in that time,” said Stoughton He says how communities interact with law enforcement is a topic that concerns every community. Stoughton also says that in order for Ferguson, and the nation, to move forward we have to learn from yesterday. “We shouldn’t, we cannot write this off as a local problem that’s local to Ferguson, that’s local to Missouri. I don’t think we should be writing this off as a very simple white officer on black teen event. I think we need to be using this to have a bigger conversation,” said Stoughton