'No do-overs when you're dealing with people's lives,' says police oversight board chair 29%
By Lacretia Wimbley0%
4/9/2026, 10:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 29 faulty reasoning types, including Framing Effect, Negativity Bias, and Anecdotal, with Ambiguity (Equivocation) as the most egregious example at 18.7% saturation with 174 hits. Analysis detected 1,477 faulty-reasoning hits from 931 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 39.3% and a BS Rank of 29% (11,981 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 71.30% of the article peer group.
The state takeover of the St.
Louis Metropolitan Police Department has caused ripples of concern about the city's future, including the Civilian Oversight Board, which is tasked with reviewing complaints about excessive force and police misconduct.
The oversight board was ultimately founded in 2015, but its path to fruition started long before then.
Former Mayor Francis Slay vetoed a version of the oversight law in 2006 over concerns about its legality and fairness.
Slay later consented to giving the board life in 2015.
Ciera Simril is chairwoman of the board and one of its longest-standing members.
She said the idea for the oversight board came after years of rampant police injustices in the St.
Louis community — and it just so happened to be born on the heels of the Ferguson Uprising after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in August 2014.
Simril said the first members went through a specialized civilian police academy training to help inform their perspective while reviewing police complaints.
Over the past decade, Simril said the board reviewed complaints, engaged the community, and identified patterns in officer behavior despite legal hurdles along the way.
Last summer, city counselor Michael Garvin informed the oversight board that its authority had been effectively eliminated because of state law that put St.
Louis police back under state control.
The department was under the state's thumb for 152 years before the city achieved local control in 2013.
Simril sat down with STLPR's Lacretia Wimbley.
She reflected on the Civilian Oversight Board's impact and brought a message for the state's new Board of Police Commissioners.
This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.
Lacretia Wimbley: Why is the Civilian Oversight Board necessary?
Ciera Simril: They want to go back to the police policing themselves.
A lot of people don't want to admit it, but we have one of the most corrupt police departments in the country.
Do we have some honorable men and women that serve?
Absolutely.
However, we do understand that we do have some that are not so good.
The Civilian Oversight Board was selected by the people that served during that time to say that these people are fit.
We also have an ordinance that we had to fit the criteria for all of these things that they were looking for.
The Civilian Oversight Board of St.
Louis was reflective of the actual people, because we live in these communities and we're around the people and see the things that are happening daily.
The Board of Police Commissioners is not a reflection of that.
Wimbley: And so, last July, City Counselor Michael Garvin essentially informed the oversight board that its authority was effectively eliminated because of state law that put police back under state control.
And so, how many complaints are backlogged at this point?
Simril: Well, prior to that, we've had a couple lawsuits.
Then, when they were in the process of creating the Division of Civilian Oversight, and when the Detention Facilities Oversight Board was created, that put the brakes on us again, where we were stuck in litigation.
So all of those case files, the staff were taking in, but the board could not review anything — approximately, maybe about 800 cases that are currently sitting.
Wimbley: So it's been a few years then since you guys have been able to review complaints.
Simril: About time we were getting ready to do it with the new appointed members, that's when the brakes got put on again.
Wimbley: What were some of the positive impacts of the board, you know, back when it was able to use its authority?
Simril: We had a lot of community engagement activities, where we were educating people out in the public during that time of what our duties were.
In some instances, it's not always someone having a complaint and this officer just gets in trouble.
It's like we understand they're human, and there's mediation services offered that's through a third party, where the officer may say, 'Hey, I'm fine with meeting with the person and talking and telling them, hey, man, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to curse you out.
I was having a rough day.
I was working a double shift, you know.'
And the person is like, 'Oh, like, man, I understand, you know, like, blah, blah, blah,' and they squash it and go on about their day.
And then it's like, it's not something that, you know, leaves a mark on this officer's record or jacket at that point.
Wimbley: OK.
Have you or anyone from the Civilian Oversight Board had any discussions with the Police Board of Commissioners?
Simril: No.
I have reached out to them myself a couple times.
I reached out to their attorney via email, no response or anything.
Wimbley: Do you have any hope that the board will become active again?
Simril: I do have hope that it is possible.
(I'm) just hoping that the citizens of St.
Louis don't give up on civilian oversight, that it's not the end of the story.
We are still meeting and we're still working.
Obviously, I can't necessarily say exactly what's happening.
But we're pushing.
Wimbley: What message do you have for the Police Board of Commissioners?
Simril: Allow agenda items around public interest to be added.
Meet the people where they actually are and be accountable for your actions in that capacity, because there is no do-overs when you're dealing with people's lives.
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