Let the people review the police
By James Buford
Guest columnist
Last year at this time, I wrote a column about the need for an effective Civilian Police Review Board following a police attack in which 28 bullets were fired into a car containing three children. This week, I am writing yet another article about the need for a Civilian Police Review Board after a St. Louis police officer has been convicted of federal charges for falsely arresting several people for crack cocaine possession.
These convictions wouldn’t be so alarming if the St. Louis Police Board of Commissioners, the city police’s Internal Affairs division or even the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office would have brought charges against the rogue officer.
Unfortunately, none of these systems that are in place worked to protect us from police abuse. It was the U.S. District Attorney and the F.B.I. that got involved to pull a bad cop off the streets.
Each year, allegations of police brutality are reported, and nothing is ever done about it on the local level. Ald. Terry Kennedy has tried repeatedly to pass a bill to create an effective Civilian Police Review Board, to no avail. Mayor Francis Slay and Ald. Kennedy have failed to find a compromise on this bill to have any members of the civilian police review board elected by the people.
It seems that the citizens of St. Louis are not allowed to have a voice in protecting themselves against rogue police. What amazes me the most is that a mayor who is elected by the people does not trust his constituents enough to elect solid citizens to review civilian complaints against the police. Should I remind him that it is the people who pay the salaries of the mayor and the police department?
Last year, the mayor and the St. Louis Police Board voted to create a civilian police review board that is solely appointed by the mayor and approved by the police board.
My question is: What would be the difference between the decisions of this group and the current police board? Absolutely nothing. Would this review board be autonomous and credible enough to issue objective decisions? I doubt it.
In essence, a civilian police review board that is established by the mayor and the police board would lack public credibility and be viewed as a subset of the St. Louis Police. This lame civilian board will reflect a conflict of interest, strong loyalty to the police board, a lack of objectivity and total ineffectiveness.
Over the years, it has become increasingly apparent that the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department needs a Civilian Review Board to watch over those who are supposed to be watching over us.
The Board of Aldermen is once again deciding on a bill that will establish a Civilian Police Review Board for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police. The mayor is opposing this bill because he wants to appoint all the members on the board. Understandably, Kennedy, the bill’s sponsor, doesn’t believe that this will be a fair and objective board if all of its members are appointed by the mayor to oversee the work of another mayoral appointee, the Chief of Police.
A seven-member board containing four elected citizens is the ideal circumstances for an effective board. I believe that the time has come for elected city officials and the police, who are government employees, to be held accountable to the people who pay their salaries. The time has come for Mayor Slay and Ald. Kennedy to reach a compromise in order to better serve and protect the citizens of this great city.