The top attorney for the city of St. Louis has told the civilian entity tasked with investigating police misconduct to refrain from doing so, according to a readout of the letter from the City Counselor’s Office to members of the Civilian Oversight Board.
City Counselor Michael Garvin noted in a letter sent to the board last week that state law has “effectively eliminated” the board’s authority. Furthermore, the state law that put police back under state control includes potential penalties for any city official who “impedes, obstructs, hinders, interferes, or obstructs police employees”—and so if oversight board members were to effect what had been their mandate, they could be seen as impeding (or obstructing or hindering) police business. Garvin noted that anyone who runs afoul of the law faces monetary penalties and disqualification from city employment.
The impetus for sending the letter, Garvin wrote, was that he noticed the oversight board had on its agenda for a meeting today that they would be discussing “complaints and investigations.”…