ST. LOUIS 鈥 Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards thought he had an understanding with Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner about how officers are added or even removed from her controversial exclusion list.
Then, he said, she changed the rules.
Seven of 22 officers Gardner added to the list on Tuesday fall into a new category: the permanently banned, according to a news release from her office.
And that鈥檚 news to Edwards, he said in an interview Wednesday.
鈥淥ur protocol is for my review of everybody,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f we enter into an agreement, I expect it to continue.鈥
Gardner sent Edwards and Police Chief John Hayden a letter Tuesday announcing that she had added 22 police officers to a growing list of those she has banned from her office. They cannot seek charges against people they arrest, apply for search warrants or serve as essential witnesses in cases.
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Tuesday鈥檚 expansion of the exclusion list followed recent findings by the Philadelphia-based , which reviewed racist Facebook posts allegedly made by current and former officers in 狐狸视频 and seven other jurisdictions around the country.
Fifteen of the newly added officers on the list, Gardner鈥檚 release said, will be 鈥渞eviewed in accordance with our mutually agreed upon protocol to determine conditions for reinstatement of their ability to present cases.鈥
That protocol, announced in February, involves Gardner鈥檚 office reporting officers she deems to be problematic to police Internal Affairs investigators. Edwards is to review those investigations鈥 conclusions and share the findings with Gardner so she can decide whether to remove names from the list.
Gardner鈥檚 spokeswoman Susan Ryan has not made Gardner available for comment. Hayden鈥檚 spokesman, Sgt. Keith Barrett, said only that the department is continuing with its Internal Affairs investigation into the social media posts.
鈥淭he department is committed to the investigation we initiated immediately following the publishing of The Plain View Project鈥檚 report, through the Internal Affairs Division. We will reserve any comment regarding disciplinary action taken until the completion of the investigation of which all involved officers have been notified,鈥 according to Barrett鈥檚 statement.
Ryan, Gardner鈥檚 spokeswoman, said Tuesday the addition of the officers brought the total number banned from the office to 59. The list numbered 29 when first reported by the Post-Dispatch last August.
Edwards said that number is 鈥渕isleading.鈥 He estimates that as many as 40 percent of the officers on the list no longer work for the police department. Some, he said, haven鈥檛 worked there since 2007.
鈥淭hat is a flaw in our agreement, and I鈥檒l have to fix it,鈥 Edwards said. 鈥淥nce they are no longer police officers, they should come off the list.鈥
Edwards, a former judge, said he believes judges should make determinations about a police officer鈥檚 credibility, but prosecutors have absolute discretion.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 have the ability to draft a process and impose it on circuit attorney.鈥
Edwards said he also does not agree with some of the names on Gardner鈥檚 list, including a female officer who was banned after screaming, 鈥淥h, my God, I can鈥檛 believe you aren鈥檛 going to issue that case,鈥 to Gardner鈥檚 staff.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 necessarily agree that officers should not be able to do their job because they鈥檝e raised their voice,鈥 he said. 鈥淧eople raised their voice in my courtroom for years and we always let them come back in and do their jobs,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut in their minds, she was disrespectful. She鈥檚 still allowed to be a police officer, but now her partner has to apply on her cases with the Circuit Attorney鈥檚 Office.鈥
As for the others, they remain on the city鈥檚 payroll despite Gardner stripping them of their ability to perform some of the essential functions of a police officer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not spending money on a person not doing their job,鈥 Edwards said. 鈥淭he job is getting done, we just have to do it a little differently.鈥
