Police: time for federal intervention
By John Chasnoff
Guest Columnist
The recent Post-Dispatch series on crime statistics unearthed serious flaws in the St. Louis Police Department. Policies in place for 20 years resulted in practices woefully inadequate by national standards. Crime statistics have been underreported, rapes under-investigated, and premature destruction of evidence may have hindered law enforcement efforts both locally and nationally.
Furthermore, the police have failed to hold themselves accountable for these practices. Mayor Francis Slay and Chief Joe Mokwa want to assure us that policies have been rectified, but the Post series repeatedly quotes high-level staff justifying the old procedures. The chief’s appointment of Edward Dowd and a “Blue Ribbon” panel to investigate these problems only eroded public confidence further, as the panel’s members were shown to have financial ties to the department.
Nor has the Board of Police Commissioners done its job. When presented with the Dowd panel’s public report, which discounted problems and was given a professional PR spin by the member appointed for this purpose, the commissioners failed to ask a single question and swallowed the report whole.
Citizens have had little recourse in holding the police department accountable. A hearing before the Board of Aldermen last year showed that police investigators often dissuade citizens from filing complaints or exhibit a pattern of inaction when complaints are filed.
Fortunately, the federal government provides some relief for cities confronted with this type of repeated law-enforcement failure. A 1994 federal law prohibits local police from engaging in a “pattern or practice” of federal rights violations. To avoid litigation, police often negotiate with the Justice Department to create a Consent Decree, an agreement usually resulting in an
appointed outside manager to oversee the implementation of specific reforms. Citizen groups sometimes collaborate in designing the reform process.
St. Louis citizens should begin the process of petitioning the federal government for this type of intervention. Local clergy, citizen groups and interested attorneys should come together to refine the petition’s content. The following topics might be included in any petition of redress and would form the agenda for negotiation of any Consent Decree. The subjects covered would reflect current best practices for creating police accountability and would spell out specific reforms for St. Louis.
1. Create an independent panel to audit crime reporting.
2. Negotiate proper implementation of the anticipated Civilian Review Board.
Correct any systemic flaws if the final plan is below national standards.
Include adequate staffing, funding, and guarantee efforts to enable subpoena power on the state level.
3. Negotiate a public process for input into and education about an Early Warning System. The department is currently instituting such a system, which would red-flag problem officers, but has specifically stated that it wants no formal citizen input. Independent audits would insure that red-flagged officers are properly corrected or removed.
4. Negotiate a system whereby women’s groups provide continuing oversight of unfounded reports of sex crimes.
5. Negotiate a process for creating local control of police. The current system, unique to Missouri, has resulted in a passive police board and unaccountable outstate Missouri legislators.
6. Negotiate implementation of an effective policy to discipline officers found to have engaged in racial profiling. Though St. Louis has consistently been shown to conduct ineffective searches based on race, it has inadequately identified the officers guilty of the practice.
Citizens want to work with the police for the benefit of everyone. It is time for us to insure that we are given that chance.
John Chasnoff is a member of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression.