By Antonio D. French
Filed Friday, March 10 at 10:16 AM
The St. Louis Board of Aldermen today passed a bill creating their own version of a civilian review board to investigate claims of police abuse. The bill now heads to the desk of Mayor Francis Slay. To take effect, it would still have to be adopted by the state-controlled police board.
The bill, which was the subject of an unsuccessful filibuster last week by Ald. Stephen Gregali, was passed by a vote of 17-12.
Those voting for the bill included all of the board's black aldermen (Troupe, Flowers, Bosley, Shelton, Griffin, Reed, Kennedy, McMillan, King, Boyd, Williamson, and Carter), four white aldermen (Young, Florida, Roddy, and Schmid), and Board President Jim Shrewsbury.
Those voting against the bill were Aldermen Conway, Ortmann, Vollmer, Villa, Heitert, Wessels, Gregali, Baringer, Hanrahan, Waterhouse, Kirner, and Krewson.
After the meeting, Ald. Gregali talked to PUB DEF about why he opposed the bill.
UPDATE: Comptroller Darlene Green issued the following statement today in support of the civilian review board:
"I want to thank Alderman Kennedy, the bill's co-sponsors and everyone in the community who fought tirelessly for a civilian review board. Although the approved bill falls short of its original goal of elected members, this compromise is a huge step forward for the entire St. Louis community.
"I call on the mayor and the police board to follow the will of the people and adopt this review plan."
4 Comments:
I find good points on both sides, and I believe that Kennedy's true motivation is to get local control of the police.
I do not think this board will have any effect; in the end, it will show that we need control of our police, which is something that Kennedy wants, eventhough he may be going about this in an indirect manner.
We need local control, instead another layer of bureaucracy. We will have to see...
12:29 PM, March 10, 2006
I think Kennedy and other supporters of this bill want police officers who use excessive force and/or break the law to be punished. This is not always the case now when police investigate police.
Also, citizens almost always run into a brick wall when seeking public information from the PD. Independent civilian review will help.
I think that the SLPD and police board's opposition to independent civilian review says a lot about what skeletons they have in the closet. Shedding light on the operations at the SLPD might sting the cops a bit at first, but it will certainly help the city move forward in the long run.
12:56 PM, March 10, 2006
I don't think this measure is, in any way, a step towards local control of the police -- which is absolutely needed in this city.
A bill in the state legislature or a well-funded initiative petition to get the issue on a statewide ballot would be a first step. This bill deals just with the investigation of reports of abuse by police and it must still be adopted by the police board to take effect.
It doesn't address issues of funding of the police department (which St. Louisans pay for but have no control over), or issues of residency (which St. Louisans clearly wanted, but were nonetheless overruled by the police board), or issues of accountability (even if the C.R.B. does find that an officer violated a citizen's rights, they can't do anything about it).
Local control of the police is a whole 'nother fight, one that hasn't even begun.
1:03 PM, March 10, 2006
Antonio, you make good points, however, I think that small steps are being taken which will ultimately end up with the debate over who has control over the police.
This board will have little to no change, and people will realize that local control is the only solutions. Maybe Kennedy knows this, and he is planning on this idea catching on.
4:56 PM, March 10, 2006
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