Shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith (2017)

See: Shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith

Assault of undercover officer Luther Hall (2018)

Three St. Louis police officers from its Civil Disobedience Team were charged with felony assault against undercover police officer Luther Hall during the 2017 St. Louis protests. Officer Hall, according to the November 2018 indictment, had been extensively assaulted by the three officers. According to the prosecutors, officers Christopher Myers, Randy Hays, and Dustin Boone used excessive force in the form of kicking Hall and beating him with their police batons. Hall stated that the officers smashed his cell phone and broke a camera he had used to document the protests.^[21] Hall's injuries as a result of the assault included an injured tailbone, two herniated discs, and a jaw injury that prevented Hall from eating, resulting in a twenty-pound weight loss.^[22] Prosecutors obtained text messages from the officers involved, which revealed the officers' excitement at the prospect of brutalizing protesters. Officer Boone allegedly texted "it’s gonna be a lot of fun beating the hell out of those shitheads once the sun goes down and nobody can tell us apart!!!!” and “Did everyone see the protesters getting FUCKED UP in the galleria????? That was awesome.”^[23]

A fourth police officer, Bailey Colletta, was charged with providing false testimony to a grand jury.^[24] Colletta pled guilty to giving false testimony to cover up the attack on Hall, and admitted she had lied to the FBI and to a federal grand jury.^[25]

All four officers were suspended without pay.^[25]

Officer Hays, who allegedly had texted "going rogue does feel good", pled guilty to assault.^[26] Hays admitted that on the evening of September 17, although Hays did not witness anything probable cause to arrest Hall, Hays and other officers arrested Hall. During the arrest, Hall was compliant and pinned to the ground, with Officer Boone's knee on Hall's shoulder and continually pushing down Hall's head while telling him not to look at them; during this time, officers kicked Hall in the face and beat him with a baton.^[27]

An indictment released in December 2019 revealed that a fifth officer, Steve Korte, was also charged for violently beating Hall, and then lying to the FBI about his involvement. He was placed on administrative leave without pay. Officer Korte was later unanimously found not guilty by the jury, after evidence was shown in trial proving he was nowhere near Luther Hall when he was attacked.^[28] Officer Korte was later reinstated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.^[27]

Hall filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in September 2019 against the police and against the city.^[29]

"Exclusion List" controversy (2019–2020)

A controversy ensued in 2019 regarding the existence of a list created by circuit attorney Kimberly M. Gardner's office of 28 Metropolitan Department officers that were to be excluded from acting as witnesses in future prosecutions due to an alleged history of misconduct.^[30] In late September 2020, fifteen more officers were added to the list. This would indicate about five percent of the sworn officers of the department are listed. The names of those on the list has not been released to the public.^[31]

"Russian Roulette" incident (2019)

On January 24, police arrived at the residence of SLMPD officer Nathaniel Hendren following reports of gunshots, upon arrival police found 24-year-old officer Katlyn Alix fatally shot in the chest, following an alleged game of Russian roulette.^[32] St. Louis circuit attorney Kimberly Gardner criticized the investigation, stating that the department was obstructing the investigation of the shooting, claiming investigators refused to allow a sample of Officer Hendren's blood be tested for alcohol and other substances.^[33][34][35] St. Louis Metropolitan Police Commissioner John Hayden Jr. responded to criticism of the investigation as unfounded.^[36]

Plain View Project findings (2019)

In June 2019 officers and employees from numerous police departments in the United States were found to have participated in a number of private groups on Facebook that shared content that was described as racist,^[37] violent, and Islamophobic.^[38] This information was published online by the Plain View Project, which had viewed and documented the social-media accounts of 2,900 officers from eight separate departments, finding twenty percent of those users posted material that was determined to meet the threshold of being offensive.^[39] At least 22 officers in the department were found to have participated in the closed groups, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner stated that these officers would be added to a list of officers who have been determined to be unable to provide witness testimony in criminal prosecutions.^[40]

Police cruiser crashes (2023-2024)

In December 2023, the aftermath of a police cruiser crashing into a gay bar gained national attention following the arrest and alleged assault of one of the bar owners. Claims as to the cause of the crash were contradicted by video evidence gathered from civilians, no toxicology test was taken for the driver, and the initial charge of a felony against the arrested bar owner was reduced to a misdemeanor after he was held more than a day in custody. It was also found that the arresting officer, who is accused of beating the bar owner, had previously broken bones of an arrestee already in handcuffs. Governor Mike Parson advised the police department to release body camera footage.^[41][42]

The incident increased scrutiny of cruiser crashes, including an apparent cover-up of a destroyed church sign from the preceding summer. In March 2024, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen were told by a police representative that there was no recent upswing in incidents, which conflicted with data showing a 44% spike in 2019.^[43]

Force Investigative Unit audit (2024)

The Force Investigative Unit was established in 2013 to investigate cases of officers using deadly force and issue reports to the public for the purposes of transparency. In 2018, the unit was ordered to conduct an audit of investigations which led to further investigations of the unit's then-director Roger Engelhardt, who was later fired from the force. The audit found problems in all 50 investigations of police shootings from 2004-2018. No reports from the unit have been released to the public since 2015, and the Tishaura Jones administration blocked public access to the full audit.^[44][45]