On Thursday there was a day of confusion following the police riots in Ferguson Wednesday night. Gov. Nixon finally showed up and gave a couple of fumbling news conferences. There were all sorts of conflicting news reports of what was going to happen. At one point it was being reported that the FBI would be taking operational control. That never seemed credible to me. Late in the day Nixon introduced highway patrol captain Ronald Johnson, a black officer who had grown up in the area with the announcement that he was being "placed in charge" of law enforcement operations in Ferguson.
On Thursday night Johnson presented a model of competent and effective community policing by going out and talking to the residents like they were human beings with valid concerns and issues. The result was that the situation remained peaceful on Thursday night. However, on Friday local police chief Thomas Jackson who had already made hash out of a volatile situation, set about doing just about everything imaginable to make the situation worse. Johnson was placed in the position of having to hold his own news conference to disavow responsibility for Jackson's stupidity. On Friday night confrontations between police and demonstrators returned.
This looks like classic Keystone Kops. My impression of Nixon on Thursday was that he was trying to find a way to put a lid on the situation without being accused of failing to support the police and the forces of law and order. It seems pretty clear that he failed to establish the necessary system of comprehensive command and control necessary to bring order to the chaos. He played it like a politician trying to walk both sides of the street.
Capt. Johnson appears to be a very competent police officer who has been placed in the unenviable position of being given responsibility without authority. I am not an expert on the specifics of Missouri law, but generally a state governor holds the ultimate police powers of the state. Notions that somehow Obama and the federal government might move in and take charge are not realistic. There are statutes and constitutional provisions that limit the power of the federal government to intervene in state affairs. The real responsibility for this mess rests with Nixon. He doesn't seem to be doing a very job of it.