ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — The St. Louis County Police Department will have two new reviews of its use of force policies after a request from County Executive Sam Page last week.
On June 9, County Executive Sam Page tweeted a letter he sent to the Board of Police Commissioners and Chief Mary Barton following the growing call nationwide to review how police handle interactions. According to a Monday afternoon tweet from Page, Chief Barton responded with a letter saying the department would have a public review and a professional review of the department's policies.
The two reviews are in addition to the department's three yearly reviews on use of force policy, which Chief Barton said are conducted by the department's Bureau of Research and Analysis, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and the County Counselor's Office.
"Concerning the use of force policy, the St. Louis County Police Department has consistently been a regional leader in policy development and training," Chief Barton said in the letter. "Department policies are created using extensive research on model policies, case law, and best practices."
The request from Page came after a number of high profile incidents across the country involving use of force by police officers. The #8CANTWAIT campaign has especially gotten a lot of attention online. It calls for police departments to immediately make the following changes:
- Ban chokeholds and strangleholds
- Require de-escalation
- Require warning before shooting
- Require exhausting all alternatives before shooting
- Duty to intervene
- Ban shooting at moving vehicles
- Require use of force continuum
- Require comprehensive reporting
"As with any endeavor, there is always room for improvement," Chief Barton said in her letter. The calls for change from the community have made it clear that there is no room for error."
The professional review will include a panel made up of "subject matter experts from academia, policing and law," and will provide a diverse, in-depth examination of the policies.
The community review will include a webinar where residents can get an explanation of the policy and share their own experiences with the department. After all the feedback is taken, the department will decide appropriate actions moving forward.
The letter did not say when the reviews would take place.
