--- description: Looking back on the anniversary of a deadly shooting title: What's Changed in Ferguson One Year Later—and What Hasn't image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8d976a5c736f665a/69885e6b0a4a22d4949c584f/ferguson1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [cities](/tag/cities/) ## cities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What's Changed in Ferguson a Year After Michael Brown—and What Hasn't  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Aug 7, 2015 9:30 PM CUT  Michael Brown Sr. along with family and friends stop to pray at a memorial to Brown's son before taking part in a parade in his son's honor on Aug. 8, 2015, in Ferguson, Mo. Michael Brown Sr. along with family and friends stop to pray at a memorial to Brown's son before taking part in a parade in his son's honor on Aug. 8, 2015, in Ferguson, Mo.Jeff Roberson—AP  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Aug 7, 2015 9:30 PM CUT Sunday marks [one year since white former police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown](http://time.com/3985647/ferguson-michael-brown-anniversary/ "undefined") in Ferguson, Mo., sparking weeks of often-violent protest and a still-running national debate about race and police use-of-force. A grand jury opted not to indict Wilson, who [recently gave his first extensive interview in months](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/the-cop "undefined"), saying he’s “not going to keep living in the past.” Activists are [using the anniversary](http://time.com/3985647/ferguson-michael-brown-anniversary/ "undefined") weekend to stage what they promise will be peaceful protests and vigils. Police are on alert for any sign that the anniversary could bring renewed violence. But as the town tries to move on, what has changed and what hasn’t? Here’s a where-are-they-now guide to some of the people and issues on the ground. **Darren Wilson** Wilson, no longer with the police force, lives somewhere in St. Louis County. His exact location remains a closely-guarded secret amid continuing threats. Supporters have raised more than $500,000 for his legal defense and protection, but Wilson still hasn’t been able to find work, according to a profile in [_The New Yorker_](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/10/the-cop "undefined")_._ “It’s too hot an issue, so it makes me unemployable,” he told the magazine. A grand jury declined to indict him in the shooting, and federal investigators cleared him of any wrongdoing under federal law. **The people in charge** Michael Brown’s death briefly turned a number of city and state officials into household names. A year later, some remain in office after surviving the tumult of a national spotlight. Others have resigned and disappeared. [Captain Ron Johnson](http://time.com/3117241/ron-johnson/ "undefined"), who rose to prominence as an official face of calm amidst the tensions, remains in his position at the Missouri State Highway Patrol. County prosecutor Robert McCulloch, criticized for his handling of the grand jury process, also remains in his position. Other law enforcement officials have had a tougher time keeping their jobs. Ferguson Mayor James Knowles, for instance, has withstood countless calls for his resignation and even a recall campaign. Knowles said he would remain in his position to continue “bringing us together, moving us forward.” But Thomas Jackson, the Ferguson Police Chief, [resigned](http://time.com/3741335/ferguson-police-thomas-jackson-resigns/ "undefined") following a scathing federal report. He said the city needed “to move forward without any distractions.” Other Ferguson police officers and city officials also resigned after the Justice Department report found they had sent racist emails. ### Photographing Life in Ferguson a Year After Michael Brown's Death  Tee Jay Banks surveys the street while hanging out with friends in the Bermuda neighborhood of Ferguson, Mo. Banks, stopped attending college because of high costs but was hoping to save up money to return to school. Mark Kauzlarich  Meech greets a friend while hanging out in the Bermuda neighborhood of Ferguson, Mo. Their group calls themselves Fatty Gang, named after their friend, 20 year-old Antwon "Fatty" Smith, who was shot to death in February, 2015. Mark Kauzlarich  Fatty Gang, a group of friends from Ferguson, Mo., hang out and drink on a Sunday night in April, 2015. Mark Kauzlarich  Darnell Smith hangs out with a group of friends at one of their parent's homes. Darnell's younger brother was Antwon "Fatty" Smith. Darnell was shot in the head on July 29 by someone who, according to friends, had asked him for gas money. Darnell was in a coma as of Aug. 2, 2015. Mark Kauzlarich  Maurice and Cal hang out at Rosalyn and Earl Carter's home on a Saturday night. Rosalyn Carter rules her block with an iron fist and does not allow gang activity to happen on her street, so some kids will hang out at her home instead. Mark Kauzlarich  Rosalyn Carter recalls her troubled life when she lived in the dangerous St. Louis suburb of Kinloch. She and her husband moved into Section 8 housing in Ferguson but circumstances have not been easy for her family, due in part to the repeated arrests of her husband for minor traffic violations. Mark Kauzlarich  Redd waits for a friend in his Cadillac Escalade before going to the liquor store to buy more Hennessey. Redd and his friends hang out on the street outside of a parent's home, under their watchful eye. Mark Kauzlarich  Kids play basketball on the corner of Halpin Drive and Lagonda Avenue where a young man named Demetrius "Trap" Stegall was killed in 2009\. Trap was involved in a robbery and after a large group argument earlier that day, an associate of the person who was robbed returned to the corner and opened fire. Mark Kauzlarich  Families attend area Catholic school first grade softball games at fields behind the Blessed Theresa of Calcutta Catholic Church in Ferguson, Mo. Mark Kauzlarich  Grace Williams, a high school freshman from Ferguson, kisses Patrick Clinton, a sophomore, while at Forestwood Park. The two had been flirting for a few weeks but hadn't quite figured out if they were officially dating. Mark Kauzlarich—©2015, Mark Kauzlarich  Raymond "Trip" Williams takes his 18-month-old daughter Rayne to the park near his mother's house in Ferguson, Mo. Trip, who is separated from Rayne's mother, recently secured a job in an effort to provide for his daughter better, motivated by seeing some of his friends grow up without both parents around. Mark Kauzlarich  An historic house in the Old Ferguson West neighborhood. Mark Kauzlarich  An abandoned house on Dupree Avenue that has been a point of contention for neighbors because it is used by local youth as a hang out to drink, do drugs, and play with their guns. Mark Kauzlarich  Richard, right, clears an overgrown yard of a rental house in the Bermuda neighborhood of Ferguson, Mo. Code enforcement officers are a common sight in the neighborhood and ticket people for long lawns and many discretionary violations like "disturbing the peace." Code enforcement accounted for $2.46 million dollars of the city's budget in 2013. Mark Kauzlarich  Courtney Smith, left, boxes his cousin Michael Hancock outside Hancock's stepfather's home. Eric Dillon, Hancock's stepfather and Smith's uncle says he was one of the few kids he grew up with that stayed out of jail and uses his experiences to be a strong influence on his son, step-son, and nephew. Mark Kauzlarich  Thomas White listens to a hymn after reading scripture at the Christ Love Divine Missionary Baptist Church in Ferguson, Mo. Most of the twenty parishioners and ministers at the small church on this particular Sunday were from outside of Ferguson. Mark Kauzlarich  Latonya Williams and her son Carlos Williams attend worship at the Christ Love Divine Missionary Baptist Church in Ferguson, Mo. Mark Kauzlarich  Rev. James Z. Williba, presiding minister at Christ Love Divine Missionary Baptist Church in Ferguson, Mo. Mark Kauzlarich  Parishioners leave Christ Love Divine Missionary Baptist Church after Sunday worship. When the congregation bought the building 35 years ago from the original owners, a white church, they marched down the street to celebrate their first service. Someone in the (then predominately white) neighborhood called the police in confusion. Mark Kauzlarich  Raymon "Trip" Williams shows his tattoo dedicated to his best friend Demetrius "Trap" Stegall, who was shot and killed in Ferguson, Mo. in 2009. Mark Kauzlarich  A group of friends hang out on Halpin Drive, just down the street from where their friend Demetrius "Trap" Stegall was shot and killed in 2009\. They call this area "Trapville," in memory of their friend. Mark Kauzlarich  Tee Jay Banks waits for friends to arrive before they go to a local recording studio. Banks and many of his friends are involved with music and some hope that rapping will be their ticket out of Ferguson. Mark Kauzlarich **The investigations** The Department of Justice launched two [separate](http://time.com/3109154/michael-brown-civil-rights-ferguson/ "undefined") [investigations](http://time.com/3270566/justice-department-ferguson-police-michael-brown-shooting/ "undefined") following the shooting. The first, conducted in coordination with the FBI, investigated the shooting itself and whether Wilson’s decision to shoot Brown violated federal civil rights law. That [investigation](http://time.com/3731902/darren-wilson-civil-rights-violations/ "undefined"), which concluded in March, corroborated Wilson’s account of the incident and cleared him of any legal or civil rights violations. The second [investigation](http://time.com/3730894/ferguson-investigation-justice-racism/ "undefined"), which also concluded in March, looked at the Ferguson Police Department’s practices more broadly. Federal authorities found patterns of racial bias that included unwarranted arrests of blacks and use of excessive force. The city has since been in negotiations with the Justice Department to enter into a so-called consent decree, which would create formal guidelines for reform. **The local economy** Many local businesses boarded up in the weeks and months following the fiercest riots, but hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding from local business development groups has kept most from closing permanently. They may not be flourishing, but they are surviving. In the first weeks following the clashes between protesters and police, the St. Louis Regional Business Counciloffered interest-free grants to dozens of local businesses, said Kathy Osborn, the group’s executive director—places like bakeries, restaurants and flower shops that might have otherwise closed their doors. While small businesses may be getting by, the local government faces tough choices thanks to a sharp decline in revenue. Income from tickets—the DOJ report found systemic targeting of minorities as a means of raising revenue—is expected to fall by $1 million from the 2013-2014 budget to the 2014-2015 budget. The city’s total operating budget is about $14 million, [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/06/us-ferguson-anniversary-finance-idUSKCN0QA2K120150806 "undefined") reports. ### See Nationwide Protests for Ferguson  Protesters climb up a hill, onto the 110 Freeway to halt traffic, as they protest the grand jury's decision to not charge Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, in Los Angeles on Nov. 25, 2014. Marcus Yam—Los Angeles Times/Polaris  Thousands of protestors take to the streets to protest the grand jury decision, in New York City on Nov. 25, 2014. Rodrigo Jard—Demotix/Corbis  Crowds fill 3rd Avenue and Main Street during a protest in Portland, Ore. on Nov. 25, 2014. John Rudoff—Demotix/Corbis  Protesters raise their hands and sit on the ground to block traffic on the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles on Nov. 25, 2014. Marcus Yam—Los Angeles Times/Polaris  A woman wears a U.S. flag in front of her face during a rally at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 25, 2014. Nick Ut—AP  Protesters hold up their hands in protest in Oakland, Calif. on Nov. 25, 2014. Leah Millis—San Francisco Chronicle/Polaris  TOPSHOTS Thousands march in protest November 25, 2014 on the streets of Washington, DC, one day after a grand jury decision not to prosecute a white police officer for the killing of an unarmed black teen in Ferguson, Missouri. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEBSAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images  Thousands protest on the steps of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington on Nov. 25, 2014. Paul J. Richards—AFP/Getty Images  A demonstrator is arrested during a protest against the grand jury's decision, in New York City on Nov. 25, 2014. John Minchillo—AP  Sekou Goff, middle, participates in a peaceful protest in the plaza on Foster Street in downtown Durham, N.C., on Nov. 25, 2014. Robert Willett—TNS /Landov  A law enforcement officer watches over Morehouse College students protesting the grand jury decision to not indict Darren Wilson, in front of the CNN Center in Atlanta on Nov. 25, 2014. 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