By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – A group seeking the creation of a civilian oversight board to monitor the St. Louis Police Department picketed a travel association convention meeting in the city Monday.
The Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression is boycotting all incoming conventions until an independent police review board is established.
Currently, a committee made up of the chief of police, police commissioners and Mayor Francis Slay's office is negotiating the merits of such a board, but the coalition's John Chasnoff says his group is not an equal partner at the table.
"The mayor and the board of police commissioners at this point have been very slow to continue, and as I've said have not included the coalition," Chasnoff said. "We've been at this impasse long enough, and it's time to move forward."
A bill sponsored by Alderman Terry Kennedy that would establish a civilian board has yet to be assigned to a committee.