WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Government announced yesterday a $4.7-million programme to shore up police-community relations in the wake of the police killing of an unarmed black teenager in Missouri.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the initiative would aim to combat distrust between police departments and the public.

“The events in Ferguson reminded us that we cannot allow tensions, which are present in so many neighbourhoods across America, to go unresolved,” Holder said in a statement.

The fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a white police officer on August 9 in the St Louis, Missouri suburb of Ferguson led to nightly protests that at times turned violent.

The Justice Department, which Holder heads, said the so-called National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice would provide training on “bias reduction and procedural fairness” with a focus on five pilot sites around the nation.

Many African-Americans feel they are victims of unfair racial profiling by law enforcement agencies, half-a-century after the civil rights movement and the end of official segregation.

Holder has previously announced a civil rights investigation into Brown’s death.

Police claim Brown was shot after a struggle with Wilson, less than a half-hour after the college-bound youth allegedly stole a box of cigars from a convenience store.