FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) – Delrish Moss experienced the worst of policing growing up in inner-city Miami. Those close to him say that makes him the ideal person to bring the best of it to Ferguson, Missouri, where African-American mistrust of police dates long before the fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Moss, a 51-year-old black man, was picked this week to be police chief in the St. Louis suburb thrown into turmoil after Brown was killed by a white officer in August 2014.

Moss recalled being harassed by police as a youth. He was a teenager when protests erupted after white officers fatally shot a black motorcyclist in 1980.

Miami’s current and former police chiefs say Moss used those negative experiences to become an officer who worked tirelessly to improve relations with African-American communities.