|
Who will control
the police department?
February 25, 2010
by Jamala Rogers
(continued from front page)
I have
heard from many who think it will be déjà vu if Chief Isom has
to serve at the will of a dictatin’ and retaliatin’ mayor. The
same mayor was responsible for abruptly ending the stellar
career of Fire Chief Sherman George, the City’s first
African-American fire chief. That ugly saga continues.
Instituting a civilian review board and wrestling the control of
the department from the governor’s hands has been the mission of
the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression. The group of
organizations and concerned citizens was originally founded in
1983 after the shooting death of Marilyn Banks. Their efforts
resulted in the establishment of a trust fund for Banks’
surviving children, the firing of Joseph Ferrario and, for the
first time ever, the indictment of a white police officer for
the death of a black citizen.
The group disbanded once its goals were achieved but was
resurrected in 1996 with the police shooting of young Garland
Carter.
CAPCR decided that trying to seek justice for every citizen
assaulted or killed by the police did not address the systemic
problems. The group climbed in the locomotive of the local
control train and started moving down the track. Other genuine
allies (about 120 endorsers of local control) hooked their car
up to the train.
Bringing up the rear in the caboose is the mayor and his
cronies. Remember that order because it is important to know it
is a citizen-driven activist initiative.
One blow to the local control movement was the discovery in the
City Charter that, should St. Louis get local control, the
police department must be administered within the Public Safety
Department. The only way the City Charter can be changed is
through a challenging process that requires a majority vote from
city voters.
In order to truly appreciate this historic moment in St. Louis
politics, you must think beyond Slay and current Public Safety
Director Charles Bryson. You must see yourself as a change agent
in City politics that rids itself of these two parasites. We
can’t keep complaining about their continued abuse of power
without seriously changing the guard.
Alderman Terry Kennedy, a proponent of local control, reminds us
that bringing the authority home is just “good governance.” The
police department’s budget is about one-third of the City’s
overall budget yet there is little control over what the
department can or cannot do with it. The Board of Alderpeople
can only send smoke signals to Jefferson City when the police
department engages in immoral, unethical and, yes, even illegal
actions.
Dr. Kenneth Stone from the City Comptroller’s Office underscored
the fiduciary astuteness of local control when he testified at a
recent hearing on the bill at the Capitol. Stone identified
nearly $5 million in savings if duplicative operations, like
human resources, were eliminated under the new plan.
From an organizer’s viewpoint, you must find a way to level the
playing field. There’s going to be a fight whether the police
department is under city or state control. There’s no silver
bullet to minimizing corruption and police brutality. Would you
prefer to find the governor and make your case every time the
department or the police board abuses their power – as in the
recent case with Police Commissioner Bommarito running
interference for his drunken nephew who bypassed jail to get a
police ride to his uncle’s restaurant? Or would you prefer to
take your concerns to your alderperson and, if needed, organize
direct actions at City Hall or the mayor’s home?
I urge you to get informed and involved in this important issue.
State Representative Jamilah Nasheed has introduced HB 1601 and
Senators Robin Wright Jones and Joe Keaveny have introduced SB
675 and SB 643 respectively. All of them – I repeat ALL of these
bills – keep the police pension fund as is, under the state’s
jurisdiction. No local foxes will be allowed to guard the House
of Pensions.
St. Louis has not controlled its police department for over a
century. It’s time to write a new history.
|
