51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Police here on Friday said they would review dozens of officer shootings and other use-of-force incidents after years of delay, following a decision by the city prosecutor鈥檚 office not to review them for criminal charges.

The department said it has created a temporary 鈥淐ritical Incident Review Committee,鈥� made up of high-ranking officers, to review more than 60 such incidents, largely amassed during the tenure of former city prosecutor Kim Gardner.

Police made the announcement Friday afternoon after weeks of questioning from the Post-Dispatch.

The decision comes in the wake of Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore telling police and the Post-Dispatch that he would not review cases submitted during Gardner鈥檚 tenure, though he acknowledged that there is no record of any review of the cases in question.

His office, he said, does not have the resources to review them now.

鈥淚 would literally have to shut down my warrant office and say, 鈥榊ou know what guys, let鈥檚 take a pause on enforcing the criminal laws in the city of St Louis for now, and let鈥檚 just go back and spend our time on all of these past seven years of matters,鈥欌�� Gore recently told the Post-Dispatch. 鈥淲hich I鈥檓 not going to do.鈥�

Prosecutorial review is one of the last steps in the police department鈥檚 investigation of officers who fire their weapons or use other deadly force while doing police work. Though rare, prosecutors could decide to charge an officer criminally. It鈥檚 a key step in ensuring officer accountability and public transparency, experts say. It鈥檚 also important to officers and their families, who are left waiting for the investigations to end and charging decisions to be made.

Experts in policing said prosecutors should swiftly review such cases for criminal charges, document the reviews clearly and communicate results to officials, officers and the community.

鈥淭he public deserves to know whether these cases were reviewed and whether a crime was committed,鈥� said Spencer Fomby, a former SWAT leader in California and a national use-of-force trainer. 鈥淭hat is completely unacceptable.鈥�

This month, police department spokesman Mitch McCoy said the department still considered every case submitted to Gardner鈥檚 office between 2020 and her resignation in 2023 as pending.

And when the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday asked McCoy鈥檚 boss, police Chief Robert Tracy, if he was concerned that some of these cases may not have been reviewed by a prosecutor, Tracy first said he and Gore share 鈥渁 common vision of a safer 51黑料 for all.鈥�

鈥淚 have full confidence in his ability to make appropriate charging decisions,鈥� the chief said in a statement.

But McCoy said Friday the new committee will determine if further 鈥渋nternal action鈥� should be taken on the old cases or if the cases could be closed. He said the department does not expect to find a case where criminal wrongdoing occurred, but if the committee does, the department will discuss it with Gore鈥檚 office.

The new committee was formed Thursday, McCoy said.

Tracey Brewer, the mother of Marc Brewer, who was shot and killed by a 51黑料 cop five years ago, wants the officer investigated.

It was 2020. Police said they got a call for a burglary at a brick warehouse off Gravois Avenue in south 51黑料. There, an officer found Marc Brewer, 28, holding a screwdriver, police said. When Brewer charged, police said, the officer opened fire.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want him out there on the street,鈥� Tracey Brewer said, 鈥渢hinking that he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, because he is an officer. It鈥檚 not right.鈥�

鈥榃e can鈥檛 just assume鈥�

Gardner, a Democrat, took office in 2017 in a wave of progressive prosecutors across the country pledging to rethink prosecutions.

But she quickly faced accusations of organizational dysfunction. Many experienced prosecutors left. Others, often new to the job and overworked, began missing hearings, delaying cases and angering judges. A backlog of charges against suspects grew into the thousands. Some victims鈥� families waited years for trials, only to see the cases dismissed.

Meanwhile, Gardner鈥檚 office had a notoriously contentious relationship with 51黑料 police. And when the department submitted use-of-force reports for her office to review, it rarely heard back on results, officials said.

In a March 2023 filing to oust Gardner from office, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey claimed there were at least 40 police use-of-force cases that Gardner鈥檚 office had failed to review. 鈥淭he community is left to wonder what the status of the cases are,鈥� Bailey鈥檚 lawyers wrote in the suit.

Gardner announced her resignation in May that year and Gov. Mike Parson appointed Gore to take over the office. He was sworn in at the end of May 2023 and was elected to a full term in November 2024.

Gore has since hired dozens of attorneys and staffers, cleared thousands of cases on an uncharged backlog and restored faith in a broken office.

But, in February of this year, former Gore spokeswoman Christine Bertelson told the Post-Dispatch that 鈥渢here were a number of Force Investigations Unit investigations from years past ... that to our knowledge had not been reviewed.鈥�

Gore鈥檚 focus, Bertelson said in an email, 鈥渉as been on addressing issues such as restaffing the Office, addressing the backlog of unreviewed applications for warrant, and prosecuting the over 250 homicide cases that were pending when Mr. Gore was appointed.鈥�

In March, his office sent an email to 51黑料 police officials stating that all use-of-force cases submitted to the circuit attorney during Gardner鈥檚 tenure would not be reviewed by Gore鈥檚 staff, according to McCoy and Gore 鈥� though neither office said as much publicly, then.

Gore said he based his decision on three main points.

First, he believed at least some of the cases had some sort of review: He said an assistant circuit attorney who worked under Gardner and is still with the prosecutor鈥檚 office told Gore he 鈥渨as conducting some reviews of these force investigative unit matters鈥� during Gardner鈥檚 tenure, Gore said. He did not elaborate.

Second, as is standard practice, Gardner was sending assistant prosecutors to the scene of police shootings to help gather evidence and provide direction and oversight for such cases.

Finally, Gardner brought charges against four officers, and while three failed, it showed Gore that she was indeed pursuing use-of-force cases.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a circuit attorney who was actively reviewing these matters,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my conclusion.鈥�

Fomby, the police training consultant, was incredulous.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 just assume, because you didn鈥檛 hear anything, that these cases were investigated,鈥� Fomby said.

The shootings

Officers fired their weapons at suspects in more than 60 incidents since 2020 in 51黑料, according to data McCoy provided the Post-Dispatch.

In about a third of those, no one was hit. In about a quarter, a suspect was injured. And in another third, police killed someone.

The Post-Dispatch identified five of the cases from the Gardner era, including Brewer鈥檚, in which suspects died.

On April 10, 2020, 34-year-old Carlo Castaneda died after being shot by officers in the 900 block of Bellerive Boulevard in 51黑料. Police had responded to a report of a home burglary and followed a man seen leaving the house. Castaneda was inside a garage when he shot at officers, police said then. When he came out of the garage, police returned fire.

On Dec. 3, 2021, 39-year-old Michael Graves died in an exchange of gunfire with police in a Central West End apartment after he refused to drop his gun, police said at the time.

The next month, two 51黑料 police officers were injured and 23-year-old Equan Hopson was killed during a police chase that led to gunfire in a Ferguson neighborhood.

And on April 4, 2022, a neighbor near Riverview Boulevard and McLaran Avenue called police and said a man was in her driveway with a gun. When police responded, Ralph Jones, 54, pointed a gun at two officers, who shot him dead, police said then.

Castaneda鈥檚 and Graves鈥� family could not be reached for comment. Hopson鈥檚 sister declined to discuss her brother鈥檚 death.

Jones鈥� estranged wife, Kim Harris, told the Post-Dispatch she hadn鈥檛 seen him in the years before the shooting but he had struggled with drug addiction most of his life.

鈥淗e was a really, really nice guy, you know,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut when he was on drugs, he was just a different person.鈥�

The parents of Brewer, the 28-year-old with the screwdriver, said they still have unanswered question about their son鈥檚 death, almost five years later.

Tracey Brewer said her son was the youngest of six children and had a great sense of humor. But she also acknowledged he struggled with drugs, and would often go into abandoned buildings 鈥� never a store or home, she said 鈥� to take whatever he could find and sell it.

And while she said she knows he shouldn鈥檛 have been in the building that day, she still doesn鈥檛 understand who called in a burglary for what she described as a long-vacant building that isn鈥檛 next door to any occupied dwellings, or why the officer said he feared for his life if her son only had a screwdriver.

The officer fired five times, Tracey said. Her son was hit in the thigh, arm and back of the head by his neck.

鈥淚 talk about it all the time,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that I want to forget, or I want anybody to forget.鈥�

The Brewers live in south 51黑料, but said they never heard from the police department or prosecutor鈥檚 office about the shooting investigation鈥檚 status.

鈥淗e didn鈥檛 do anything to anybody that should have cost him his life,鈥� Tracey said.

Gore told the Post-Dispatch in a recent interview that his office has worked hard to establish a protocol for reviewing use-of-force cases, documenting the review, and notifying the police department when prosecutors have reached a decision.

鈥淭he next circuit attorney will have a clear record of what our process was and what conclusions we reached,鈥� Gore said.

Of the 12 cases that Gore鈥檚 office has reviewed or is reviewing, it has notified police of just two decisions, McCoy said.

In both cases, the office declined to charge the officers.