Something seems very wrong in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Of course, conflicts between police and some communities they serve have been endemic around the country for years. But what St. Louis has seen lately is of a different dimension:
_An officer is killed playing a Russian roulette-like game in another officer's home.
_Officers text each other in giddy eagerness to beat up protesters.
_The circuit attorney's office so doubts the integrity of 28 officers that it places them on a blacklist.
_A bar argument involving two St. Louis officers and a patron escalates into a parking lot shootout.
These cases go beyond questions about police conduct on the job. They suggest an internal culture of immature recklessness, both on-duty and off. The city shouldn't wait for the next tragedy to look into what's happening in the department.
Last week's tragic and bizarre death of Officer Katlyn Alix alone is enough to merit a deep dive into cop culture in St. Louis. Officer Nathaniel Hendren and his partner were on duty but apparently hanging out at Hendren's house when Alix, who was off duty, came over. She died of a gunshot wound after an apparent game similar to Russian roulette between her and Hendren. He faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
In an unrelated development Monday, two St. Louis officers were charged with armed criminal action in connection with a parking lot shootout last year after an off-duty altercation with a civilian bar patron. It appeared to have started over a spilled drink. The civilian and Officer William Olsten _ one of the cops now facing charges _ both suffered non-fatal gunshot wounds.
Ahead of a clash with protesters in 2017, court documents indicate officers were texting things like, "It's gonna be a lot of fun beating the hell out of these (expletive) once the sun goes down and nobody can tell us apart!!!!" One alleged beating victim was an undercover police officer. Four officers face various charges.
Something is deeply amiss if St. Louis cops aren't absorbing their training on self-restraint, discipline and the rule of law. There are disturbing indications that top police and city officials don't get it.
In the parking lot shootout, police initially sought criminal charges against the civilian. St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner came to the opposite conclusion when she leveled charges at the officers. Gardner also pursued charges against Hendren and suggested police obstructed that investigation.
Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards called that suggestion "ludicrous."
"We should not vilify the entire department based on what happened here," he said, dismissing any "social pattern of dysfunctionality" in the department.
Edwards is correct that the entire department shouldn't be characterized by the actions of a few officers. But it's difficult to look at these shocking cases and automatically rule out systemic deficiencies.
Mayor Lyda Krewson should step up and insist on an independent review to determine if it is time to confront a deeper cultural problem.
