QUIT PLAYIN' !  

By Freeman R. Bosley, Jr.

Dellwood’s Keystone Cops Screw-Up 100 Warrants; Aryan Brotherhood Coming!

Dellwood Klan: Dellwood Mayor Loretta Johnson and her City Administrator Frank Meyer were guests of the Freeman Bosley Jr. Show on Saturday to talk about the standoff between the Mayor and four aldermen over the possibility of having St. Louis County Police assume policing activities for the tiny north county municipality.

 
Just the very idea has sparked protests, personal attacks, and even a work slowdown by police in fear of their jobs. The four aldermen have gone MIA and won’t attend meetings so a discussion and vote on the matter can be had. Oddly enough their disappearing act triggered St. Louis County to step in and patrol anyway—under emergency protocols.

 
One thing the Board should be discussing is how in the hell police officers failed to seek felony warrants over the past three years. Mayor Johnson produced a report detailing more than 130 felony arrests by Dellwood police but only 18 warrants were sought. We’re talking statutory rape, drug charges, robbery—you name it.

 
People were arrested and booked but no warrant sought from the County Prosecuting Attorney’s office. How the hell does that happen? City Administrator Meyers said an internal investigation is in process (and officers have been placed on administrative leave) but this rises to a level of misconduct and possible corruption that should go straight to the FBI. The sad part about it is even if they had sought warrants and a trial set, the sad state of the police department’s evidence room would almost guarantee the perp would walk.

 
A report to the Mayor and the City administrator about the status of the evidence room reads like something out of a sad “B” movie—missing evidence; improper cataloguing of evidence, misidentified evidence—you name it. Keystone cops for real.

 
But just when you thought the situation couldn’t get any worse—this just in: the Aryan Brotherhood has decided it wants to hold a rally in beautiful downtown Dellwood! That’s right, just as Mayor Johnson (the city’s first African-American mayor) is trying to get a handle on her city, the Brotherhood decided to come to town. I guess all the people calling the mayor a racist for trying to take down the police department (which has only two black officers out of 16 patrolling a city that is 90 percent black) got the Brotherhood all riled up. Keep an eye on this situation, it could get ugly early!

Color by Numbers: Although Aryan Brotherhood is chomping at the bit to have a rally in Dellwood, black people in Missouri needn’t worry about violence or death coming from the Klan—that seems to be already taken care of with black-on-black crime.

 
A report by the Violence Policy Center released last week showed African-Americans in Missouri are killed in at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country. You don’t say? Homicide rates here are seven times the national murder rate. According to the report almost 35 of every 100,000 African-Americans are murdered. Most are black men, killed by gun violence and according to St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. 100 of the 114 homicides last year were African-Americans. Care to guess the age and race of the majority of the suspects and victims?

Critical Review: The St. Louis Police Department is furiously spinning reports that crime is down to historic lows in the city but with three controversial officers involved in shootings in 28 days, Chief Dan Isom has another problem on his hands—a rising chorus of voices saying the Police department shouldn’t be investigating these shootings internally. The Chief has asked UMSL to study how the police department uses deadly force and how it investigates officer-involved shootings, but that isn’t likely to quell the persistent calls for independent civilian review board. Police policing themselves doesn’t sit well with too many thinking people.

Get Real: Trying to keep tabs on whose doing what in the effort for local control of the St. Louis Police Department is like listening to the classic Who’s on First comedy routine. Problem is, there’s nothing funny about the issue.

 
Now that John Chasnoff and the ACLU are working against the ballot initiative they once supported (in an astoundingly rare show of collaboration with Mayor Francis Slay and the police officer’s association) things are even more confusing.

 
The ACLU is now in the midst of a vigorous campaign urging residents to NOT support the ballot initiative and instead throw their effort behind SB461 “for real local control.” Oddly enough, one of issues that caused the rupture between the tenuous alliance supporting the ballot initiative was the issue of civilian review and disclosure of records.

 
The recent spate of officer-involved shootings mentioned above has added more fuel to the fire regarding civilian review. The ACLU takes issue with the ballot because buried in the language is a clause that gives the civil service commission “exclusive” authority to review issues with the department. Guess the love-fest is over.

TalentED: Jim Talent provided some editorial copy that ended up as part of social media fodder across the country when he said if Newt Gingrich became the Republican nominee he would not defeat President Barack Obama. That’s strong stuff coming from Talent, a former Romney advisor. Talent believes that Newt is damaged goods and if he wins the Republican nomination President Obama’s well-funded machine will rip the volatile and unpredictable candidate to shreds.

 
Berkeley: Does The City of Berkeley really need a Taj Mahal? That was a question overheard recently a local watering hole in Ferguson as a group of “community supporters” groused about the new City Hall and fire station recently completed under Berkeley Mayor Kyra Watson’s watch.

 
Both buildings on Airport Road are beautiful and bring some badly needed lift to a community still reeling from the devastating tornadoes last year. The gaggling group of white senior citizens seems to believe Berkeley doesn’t rate modern facilities—but a Berkeley resident within earshot had the last word. She quietly stepped over to the group and said “Don’t hate.” Quit playin!

Catch the Freeman R. Bosley Jr. Show every Saturday on AM/1600 from 10:00 a.m. until Noon. On the web, it’s at www.gospel1600.com. Just click on Listen Live.

Email him at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.