After nearly a decade of resistance, Mayor Francis Slay and some St. Louis aldermen have changed their tune about police oversight following the Ferguson unrest.
On Friday, December 5, St. Louis Alderman Terry Kennedy introduced a long-awaited bill to establish civilian review of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
In 2006, Kennedy championed a bill for a Civilian Oversight Board that passed the Board of Aldermen but was vetoed by Slay. The new bill (BB 208) has 15 sponsors, including Alderman Stephen Conway, Alderwoman Lyda Krewson and Slay, who all helped to defeat the 2006 bill.
This time, Slay wanted to rush the bill’s passage before the announcement of a St. Louis County grand jury’s decision in the Darren Wilson case, said Jamala Rogers, one of the co-chairs of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression (CAPCR).
“But we said, ‘Hold up now,’” Rogers said. “’We’ve been trying to get you to the table for a while. We’ve been working on this for a long time, and we believe it’s important to get it right. Or else it won’t work.’”
In many ways, the bill promises to be stronger than the 2006 version – particularly because the city now has local control of its police department and the community is immersed in the issue of police accountability.
The bill authorizes the oversight board to review citizen complaints, as well as Internal Affairs investigations. As the legislation is written now, the board would have the power to send investigations back to Internal Affairs with recommendations for further questions or additional evidence that is needed. If the board is still unsatisfied, it can conduct its own independent investigation and make recommendations to the police chief regarding discipline.
Also critical, the bill also gives the board access to all documents and allows for some monitoring of Internal Affairs investigations.
But like any legislation, just because it’s on paper doesn’t guarantee its success, said John Chasnoff of CAPCR.
“It will always require that the community stay active on this issue – that they provide some oversight of the oversight board,” Chasnoff said.
During the Ferguson October weekend, protestors stormed St. Louis City Hall. Young protest leaders – including Kennard Williams and Ferguson Commissioner Rasheen Aldridge – listed civilian review among their demands to Mayor Slay. That kind of energy and attention needs to continue, especially during the selection of board members, said Chasnoff and Rogers.
Ferguson has shown that the alternative mediation aspect of the legislation is important, Rogers said. Many people just want to be heard and be allowed to confront the authorities.
“There will be times when you don’t need to go through an entire investigation, especially if it’s not a killing or shooting – but just to be able to sit down with both parties,” Rogers said. “Sometimes people just want the officers to understand what they were feeling.”
Some contend that the bill gives the mayor too much authority over the board’s membership. The bill allows the mayor to nominate seven members of the board by choosing from the aldermen’s recommendations. The aldermen have authority to confirm or reject those nominations. A public hearing on the nominations is required to allow for public input.
Rogers said this was a compromise to giving the mayor full control of appointing the board’s members, without aldermanic or public input.
This bill is the first in a series of steps, Chasnoff said. They will push for two companion bills to increase the powers and independence of the board – one to create a new Department of Civilian Oversight equipped with the right staff and resources to succeed, and another to grant independent subpoena power to this new department.
On Friday, about 200 people came to the Board of Aldermen meeting to show their support of the bill. After it was introduced, about eight aldermen stood up and held signs that said, “Black lives matter.” Several of them spoke about police accountability and issues of race in St. Louis.
Kennedy took the microphone and said, “When we first entertained this notion, I mentioned in the testimony then that St. Louis is a powderkeg and that St. Louis is on the verge of being ignited. I said that back then. I don’t stand here to say I told you so, but I said it back then.”
Kennedy expects the bill will go before the Public Safety Committee after the holidays.
Rogers and Chasnoff said that if they can get the bill passed in the city they will work to enact similar legislation in St. Louis County.
