Columnist Jamala Rogers
When 10 St. Louis police officers were busted stealing Cardinal World Series tickets from the evidence room, no one could find it in their vocabulary to call it what it was – except for Eddie Simmons.
Simmons is a veteran, African-American officer who heads up the St. Louis Ethical Society of Police that represents black officers in the department. He knows all too well that if the color of the officers was reversed, it would be 10 fired officers looking for new employment. Case closed.
The white police officers association gave their unconditional support to the thievery and vowed a ruthless battle should termination even be considered.
Chief Joe Mokwa followed the script and stated the cops were “not thieves”. Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce initially said she couldn’t see what crimes had been committed in the case.
Actually, there are three possibilities: conspiracy, stealing and tampering with evidence. Pick one, any one.
Instead, the officers were suspended without pay for two weeks. A few supervising superiors will get a similar slap on the wrist. Mokwa recommended that they lose rank for a year, a recommendation that doesn’t have to be considered by the Police Board, which will issue its rulings on April 18.
Under city employment policies, stealing is one of a few violations that will get you automatic termination. That’s why it was so necessary NOT to label it as a theft. However, the University City Police Department called it was it is and fired its officer who happened to be on the detail with the St. Louis rogue cops.
Stealing tickets may seem insignificant. But when you know that it represents a flagrant attitude of entitlement and abuse, that it represents only a tip of the iceberg, that it was committed by those sworn to uphold the law, it starts to look more serious.
For the decades that I have been active in fighting against police abuse, the liberties taken by police run the gamut from taking citizens’ money and property to taking their lives. I’m not just talking about the shaking down of criminals for stolen property, drugs and cash – some of which never sees the shelf in the evidence room. It also affects law-abiding citizens.
I recall the police coming to the home of a sister landlord who had to call the police on a tenant. When the tenant told the cops that the owner had a gun, they searched her home and confiscated a rare pistol. They refused to give it back (somebody had their sights on that weapon, pun intended). It was only when a member of the Organization for Black Struggle accompanied her to the police department to claim her property that she got it back.
Then there was the black officer whose white partner robbed a person coming from the Cardinals game some years ago. There were no arrests and the po-po kept the cash. The victim reported the crime which probably would have gone nowhere fast except that the black officer corroborated the story. Was he lifted up as an exemplary officer? No! He was harassed right out of the department.
I can see a new trend in the criminal courts. A young person comes up to the judge after stealing a car and returning it. He looks remorseful and says he made a mistake. His attorney staunchly asserts that he “can be redeemed”. Since a precedent has been set by the police department, the judge is forced to give the youth probation.
When a society cannot expect that its law enforcers will abide by the law, respect for that institution erodes. It also creates a lawlessness on the streets that infects morality and civility for everyone.