Rebuilding Trust
Trust between citizens and police is a crucial ingredient of our community’s safety. Mediation can be an important step in building and rebuilding that trust.
Mediation provides a climate of equality between citizens and police officers. Because any discussions that take place during mediation are confidential, it encourages participants to leave any defensiveness behind, allowing folks to become vulnerable.
In this context, mediation can change our community by empowering citizens with the ability to separate the person from the badge, and the officers with the insight to appreciate how their actions impact people.
This is the beginning of rebuilding trust.
Why mediation?
The City of St. Louis Civilian Oversight Board (COB) is dedicated to providing transparency and accountability of the St. Louis City Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) while ensuring community confidence.
The COB will address concerns about SLMPD practices and bring an additional perspective to ensure a fair balance between public safety, civil rights, and community concerns.
One avenue to this goal is mediation.
How do we begin?
The complaint process begins with the completion of the Joint Civilian Complaint Form (JCCF).
You can complete this form online by clicking here.
Download and save your completed form.
You can email your completed form to cobstlcity@stlouis-mo.gov.
The COB also provides detailed instructions (including how to accomplish this in person) here.
You may also contact the COB directly.
If you’re interested in mediation, mark ‘Y’ for Yes at the bottom of Page 1 on your Joint Civilian Complaint Form.
There are additional pages to complete, but we are highlighting the section on the first page where the mediation option is located.
Where to locate the mediation option…
What happens next?
You should expect to be contacted by both the COB office as well as the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) investigators. You will be required to give a formal, verbal statement regarding the allegations listed in the complaint.
It is imperative the complainant and all witnesses cooperate with the investigators by providing a formal statement to ensure the complaint is investigated thoroughly.
At any time during the process, any party can request mediation. When mediation is requested, CRCSTL is contacted by the COB.
To discover how mediation works and what you can expect through this process, please click here.