ILLUSTRATION BY VIDHYA NAGARAJAN
The city’s Civilian Oversight Board, authorized to review allegations of misconduct by St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers, became active on Monday.
COB executive director Nicolle Barton told FOX2/KPLR news that her office had received “several calls,” although no formal complaints had been filed as of Tuesday. “And I had a person come in and talk to me in person [Monday],” she said.
Mayor Francis Slay and a majority of city aldermen backed the COB, but police union officials were never in support. Barton believes the divide can be overcome, though. “We can be that bridge—and build that bridge so that the community and law enforcement can be intact again,” she said.
The board does not have subpoena power, and it cannot discipline officers. Barton said its role is to “provide an additional level of transparency and accountability.”
See also: Policing the Police
Appointed to serve on the board are Ciera Simril, Jane Abbott-Morris, Bradley T. Arteaga, David Bell, Heather Highland, Lawrence C. Johnson, and Stephen Rovak.
When Slay signed the bill into law last June, he said, “These individuals will pledge to be fair and objective and to make decisions based only upon the facts and evidence before them. They will be fair to citizens and police and protect their rights, ensure that civilians have a role in our police department, and increase transparency."
Last January, a City Hall hearing became chaotic when police officers testified against the COB proposal. Jeff Roorda, a police union official, said the following day that establishing the board would lead to police being hesitant to do their jobs and cause officers to leave the department.
He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that police officers would "answer their calls when they got them, but as far as interrupting criminal behavior on their own, why in the world would they do that when their employers aren’t even supporting them?”
A form must be completed and submitted to the COB office at 1520 Market to file a complaint. The forms are available at the office. Complaints must be filed within 90 days of an alleged incident. The complaint is then forwarded to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division. After that division completes its investigation, the results are referred back to the COB for an independent review.
