A new Justice Department panel is reviewing the police response to 16 days of protests and disturbances after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson , Missouri , police officer . The so-called after-action review is taking a look at how officers from the Ferguson and St. Louis County police departments and the Missouri State Police handled everything from crowd control to arrests to interaction with the media , according to a Justice Department official . The 12-person team , which includes Justice Department officials and current and former police chiefs , is part of the federal response promised by Attorney General Eric Holder in response to the shooting and aftermath . The team started its assessment last week with a visit to Ferguson , conducting interviews with police officials and people who interacted with the police during the 16 days in August . They 'll return several times in the coming weeks . Holder has been critical of the heavy-handed police response , which included phalanxes of armored police firing tear gas at demonstrators . Ronald Davis , who heads the Justice Department 's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services , or COPS , has led efforts to train St. Louis area police to improve how they respond to protests . His office is also helping manage the after-action review . Despite police response problems already identified by Holder , Davis said the police review will be objective . The group doing the after-action assessment wo n't be `` naive of the facts '' that caused there to be a review in the first place , he said , but `` the assessment will be based on facts . We have to start with a very objective slate . '' The first test of the new federal COPS training is expected soon , when a St. Louis County grand jury decides whether to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for shooting Brown . If the grand jury decides not to indict Wilson , it could spark new protests . Davis said Tuesday that his office has done a first round of training for 27 police commanders . The training covers everything from arrest practices to use of force . One focus of the training is the guardian vs. warrior mentality . The aim , Davis said , is to move police to embrace the guardian mentality , so they act as guardians of constitutional rights , instead of warriors , as their riot-control armor may suggest . The Justice Department is also conducting a separate civil rights investigation of the shooting and an investigation of the practices of the Ferguson Police Department . Complete coverage on Ferguson .
Department has been looking at civil rights issues in the Ferguson area . Now it also is examining the police response to 16 days of student protests . 12-person panel including Justice Department officials , current and former police chiefs .