It is the hope of the Universal African Peoples Organization that the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and Mayor Francis G. Slay build upon the recent return of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to community control by enacting a forthcoming proposal to establish an Office of Civilian Oversight for the police department.
This proposal for the Office of Civilian Oversight is long overdue and is the right thing to do in order to enhance transparency in the handling of civilian complaints of verbal and physical abuse at the hands of rogue police officers.
Currently, all complaints are investigated by the Internal Affairs Department, which consists of other police investigating their fellow colleagues, which to many in our community is like letting the fox oversee the chicken coop.
With the implementation of an effective Office of Civilian Oversight, we would have an independent body empowered to investigate citizens’ complaints against rogue police officers which also would allow the Office of Civilian Oversight to submit its findings and recommendations for certain actions to be taken by the police chief.
Although complaints could still be filed with Internal Affairs, the Office of Civilian Oversight would have additional powers to recommend policy changes based on patterns of complaints.
The board will also issue reports to the community documenting the department’s responsiveness to its recommendations, as well as give statistical breakdowns as to types of complaints, findings, location by district and the number of officers with multiple complaints.
Over the years, a vast majority of citizens have lost confidence in the current process of handling complaints against the police. Therefore, by implementing the Office of Civilian Oversight, a sense of credibility would be fostered.
We applaud the continued efforts of Alderman Terry Kennedy and other aldermen who support the concept of an Office of Civilian Oversight.
A previous effort to create an oversight board for the police department was passed by the Board of Aldermen several years ago, but vetoed by Mayor Slay. We truly hope that Slay see the light this time and reflects the will of the people by endorsing this proposal when it comes before him once again.
Zaki Baruti is president of the Universal African Peoples Organization.
