St. Louis County, Mo., police said they weren’t chasing the car that fled a vehicle stop and crashed on Aug. 10, killing two men. Days later, video footage showed a county police car chasing the car with lights and sirens on. County police policy does not allow pursuits unless a felony has taken place. Police Chief Jon Belmar said he would begin an internal affairs investigation into the moments leading up to the crash, but it won’t start until the Missouri Highway Patrol completes its own investigation. In the six weeks that have passed, activists and family members of the dead men have appeared at County Council meetings to demand outside review of the crash and other matters when police conduct is called into question, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The episode suggests the police cannot fairly investigate themselves, they say, and the county needs an independent board to oversee allegations of police misconduct. “In a situation like this recent car chase, there’s no confidence in the community that such an investigation will be thorough and complete,” said John Chasnoff, co-chairman of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression. His group fought for 15 years to get a civilian oversight board in the city of St. Louis; it was established in 2015. The county already has a board that investigates allegations of officer misconduct: the Board of Police Commissioners. Its members are appointed by the county executive and approved by the County Council. Roland Corvington, a former FBI agent, has been a member of the board since 2012 and its chairman since 2013. The board’s discussion of the cases and individual outcomes are not released to the public. Criminologist Samuel Walker of the University of Nebraska, an expert in police accountability, said a system in which the police board reviews the police department’s investigations may not be independent enough to ensure accountability.