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FERGUSON — Nine years after a consent decree to implement reforms, Ferguson announced a community-policing plan Thursday that officials hope will bring more positive interactions between police and the public.

Several elements of the plan mimic what already is being done in many departments across the country, but it is new to Ferguson.

“It’s unique for this city,� said Ferguson police Chief Troy Doyle. “This city has gone far too long without actually having an organized strategic plan.�

The plan spells out numerous goals, including a de-escalation program for neighborhood conflicts, a youth advisory panel and sergeants tracking how much community engagement officers have each month.

One push is a so-called “apartment complex walk and talk.� Police will visit apartments — like the former Canfield Green apartments, where Michael Brown died in 2014 — so officers can get to know residents casually, when there is no crime.

Adrian Shropshire, a Ferguson resident for 35 years, sees those efforts as sincere.

“It’s real,� he said. “Just community engagement. Talking to people. Making them feel comfortable.�

When 18-year-old Brown was shot to death in August 2014 by a Ferguson officer, there was no trust between police and many residents, Shropshire said.

“There was no trust until this plan,� Shropshire said Thursday. “Now after years went on, we’ve got a good chief able to hire good (officers). That makes a big difference.�

In 2015, an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department found no grounds to prosecute the Ferguson officer who fatally shot Brown, but the federal agency issued a scathing report of the police department and how it treated Black residents. In 2016, the city agreed to a federal consent decree requiring sweeping changes.

The community-policing plan is among several tasks. Ferguson already has worked on many of the 20 areas in the consent decree initiatives, including those dealing with training, use of force, body-worn cameras and recruitment. Work to rewrite court policies and municipal ordinances took three or four years.

The team monitoring progress on the compliance of the consent decree will randomly survey the community to see if residents feel safe and if their constitutional rights are being protected. The monitor will ask to see the minutes of the command staff meetings where community-engagement strategies are discussed, and minutes of neighborhood association meetings where police officers provide crime statistics, said Patricia Washington, a spokeswoman for the Ferguson Police Department.

As part of its new technology to combat crime, Ferguson is using a drone to arrive at crime scenes first. The city also is using license-plate readers.

Doyle said the technology had its critics, with some in the community asking, “Are you going to be spying on us?� The city is hosting a public meeting next week to show off the technology and explain how it is used.

Doyle took over as police chief two years ago. The department has changed a lot, he said, including with cosmetic changes with new police cars and new uniforms. The department is 85% staffed, versus 40% when Doyle took over. And minority officers make up more than half of the force, he said.

Ferguson has seen fewer aggravated assaults and murders the last two years, compared with peaks after the killing of Michael Brown in 2014 and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Robberies, burglaries and larcenies rose in 2024, though.

Doyle said he hopes the increased staffing levels can help bring down crime, along with more help from residents.

“Once we get the community involved, now we’ve got more eyes and ears on the street,� Doyle said.

The community response already impressed Doyle, he said, when Officer Travis Brown suffered a severe brain injury last August after being knocked backward by a protester. Brown remains at a rehab center in Atlanta. Doyle said he spoke with Brown’s family this week and is “extremely encouraged by the progress Officer Brown is making.�

Josh Renaud of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed to this report.