DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the mistrust of law enforcement that was exposed after the fatal police shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, has a corrosive effect on all of America, not just on black communities.

He says that mistrust harms places that need law enforcement the most.

He also says it makes people reluctant to go to the police and scars the hearts of all children.

The fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in August sparked days of violent protests and racial unrest in predominantly black Ferguson. Brown was black and unarmed. The police officer who shot him was white.

Obama commented Saturday at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual awards dinner in Washington.

He announced the expansion of a program launched this year to help make young minority men’s lives better.