Should federal authorities investigate St. Louis police practices?
Sunday’s Post-Dispatch had a front page story about how St. Louis runs its own police towing service, but also contracts with a private towing firm to also tow cars in police matters.
The story, Tow firm deals draw questions brings to light that the chief’s daughter, and some officers, consistently received free vehicles to drive for personal use. The chief’s daughter was also allowed to purchase confiscated vehicle for prices far below the vehicle’s actual value.
The company continued to supply her with more vehicles — until the Post-Dispatch began asking questions this spring and, police say, Chief Joe Mokwa ordered the firm to stop it.
On Friday, the police department first acknowledged part of the arrangement. The next day, it began contradicting details in an investigative report from its own law firm on when the chief learned of the arrangement.
Department attorneys said that there is no proof the private company ever got preferential treatment, so at worst it might be a violation of police rules.
Still, the Police Board president said that department will stop using Metropolitan Towing and turn over all towing business to the city.
U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway questioned why police didn’t bring in the FBI or Missouri Highway Patrol to investigate.
Should state or federal authorities be brought in to investigate the department’s practices?
This towing company has been ripping off the citizens and tourists of St. Louis for a long time now. They should investigate them as well as the chief. St. Louis gave them exclusive rights to towing vehicles from the city and charging the owners outrageous amounts to get their vehicle back. It is no wonder the company can afford to give deals to the good ol boys. These are the cars that the owners cannot afford to get out of holding due to the huge fees charged by the company. My daughter’s car was stolen and located two blocks from the tow yard and they charged over $245.00 to tow the vehicle two blocks and keep it for less than 24 hours. When she went to pick up the vehicle, she was told it would cost her 275 because her dad was an ass. Dad spoke to a tow yard worker earlier to find out the extent of damages and if the car could be driven. They could not offer any information. Had she not had the right amount of money, the car would have been kept another night doubling the cost. This tow yard is a scam scum yard. The city administration that allows this type of business to continue should be investigated. The tow yard is stealing and the city government is not only allowing it, they are profiting from it!!! It’s about time.
SHOULD THEY BE INVESTIGATED? SHOULD YOU LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE FREAKING STREET. SHOULD YOU MAKE SURE YOUR CAR PAYMENTS ARE MADE? HOWS ABOUT RENT? WHAT THE HE!! LET’S ALL GET PEOPLE ON THE PAYROLL, STEAL WHAT YOU CAN, GET IT WHILE YOU CAN. PEOPLE IN AMERICA ARE BECOMING NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF THEIVEING LOWLIFE. USA HAVE SOME HONESTY AND SOME FREAKING DIGNITY!
SHOULD THEY BE INVESTIGATED? SHOW THE POPE WIPE HIS ARSE?
Yes, the Federal authorities should investigate the City of St. Louis’ Police Department practices. I have every confidence that Catherine Hanaway’s team will do a comprehensive investigation. And more importantly, unveil the truth about Joe Mokwa’s knowledge regarding his daughter’s use of impounded cars. If it is determined that he has known and made it possible for her to drive these impounded cars, he should be fired immediately. At the very minimum, he should be suspended without pay until the close of an internal investigation.
Yes. An investigation by The MO. State Highway Patrol or FBI is appropriate. Ask people who use public transportation if they could use a sweetheart deal on a car, such as the one given the chief’s daughter: A. Mokwa, provided by Parks Auto Sales. Or maybe one of those 10 month test drives at least.
.
One additional comment … The Police Officers in the City of St. Louis not involved in this incident should be very proud of themselves. Hold your heads high gentlemen. You represent the white hats of the department. Be proud of your honesty and integrity. There are people in the community who acknowledge that not all police officers are on the take and dishonest. If Mayor Slay is the man that I think he is, he’ll ask for Joe Mokwa’s resignation.
In the mean time, don’t let the actions of Joe Mokwa make you feel embarrased. He’s the one who should be embarrassed. He’s reaping what he’s sewn (in many, many ways).
You guys just continue to be the honerable gentlemen that you are. It will all come out in the wash.
I just feel really sad for Chief Mokwa. He’s always seemed like an intelligent gentleman in a land of corruption. Now his own daughter who can’t get herself together is going to cost him his career. I’m sure he’s been terrified for his grandchildren throughout this years’ long drama.
That said, he needs to resign for the sake of the department and in the interest of public clarity.
What a sad, sad situation. He’s a good man yet he can’t keep this position. I really wish him well.
Investigate?
Are you kidding!?! Why bother, not a Republican involved.
Millions for emails, not a penny to check out the Democratic city administration!
It’s bad enough they steal vehicles from “drug dealers” while letting bar keeps break the laws daily. But if these were non-disposed assets, and hadn’t been reassigned from the former owners to the gov’ment repo men, that wear and tear was stolen property. I imagine any mileage docs at time of confiscation could be, and probably have been, altered. Compensation of at least what the tax man gives you for miles should be reimbursed. With some wee-wee slapping penalties like THEY like to hand out to others. The humiliation of handcuffs would be nice too. Just to be fair. The donut icing on the seats joke posted earlier was darned funny! Unusual for that particular poster. LMAO
I can’t believe there are people posting to this site defending the Chief, the Mayor, the board, the private law firm who won’t disclose the details of their investigation to the public PAYING for the report, Park Autos, Metropolitan Towing, and the right to steal from taxpayers and city funding. The comments on this post attest to the outlandish and ILEGAL towing practices of what I can only term city sponsored thugs! It is shameful the city perpetuates this fraud on the people of St. Louis, and makes them Pay for it.
This whole thing has the BULLSH*T FLAG flying high above. Can you not see that this is only the tip of the iceberg??? Seriously-I am flabbergasted that a citizen would stand for these criminal abuses of power and even more amazed to see you defending this behavior???!!! This is JUST WRONG. Government abuse gone wild. You could make the comparison to the overwhelming culture of corruption under Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and company in the great (ha) city of Detroit. Another disgrace. This is not the government and city image St. Louis should project to the world.
Abuse of power and authority is ILEGAL. Misappropriation of resources and stealing is ILEGAL. Nepotism, favoritism, and diversion of public resources are ILEGAL. There is no other way to say this. A public servant has a responsibility to execute their duty in a manner above reproach. Guarding the public resources and protecting taxpayers is part of executing that duty. NOT taking the bounty of the city for their private use, ingratiating themselves with who knows what element, beholding to whom??? Certainly not the taxpayers! If the Chief had any concern for the men and women who serve under him, or the citizens of St. Louis, or the city government, he would have already resigned. He is just trying to protect his pension. Trying to keep who knows what other enterprise from surfacing.
Appoint an interim Chief, initiate an outside third-party investigation on the level of the Inspector General and shine some sunshine into this pit of vipers, and we know not the head of the snake. As soon as Mokwa took over in 2001, Metropolitan Towing and Park Autos materialize on the horizon (managed by an ex city cop). A quote from the Post on this relationship,
“Meanwhile, Parks’ sister company, Metropolitan Towing, was enjoying another boom in business.
St. Louis police launched a “pilot program” to not only give it all the cars seized in crimes, but every car that police wanted impounded from three police districts, and all those tagged for tow by a special traffic safety unit.
Claude Gunn, who runs the city towing operation, said police have sent Metropolitan Towing trucks to districts on calls that were supposed to be reserved for city-owned tow trucks.”
And the circle begins…. cops conveniently begin to impound high priced autos (the Chief’s daughter caught driving one two weeks later with no license, no insurance, expired plates, ect,) at such a rate the city, for the first time, needs to contract towing and resale of “abandoned” autos to a privately run business (who loans/sells/undervalues these autos out to the Chief’s daughter-who likes to drive drugged, drunk, and reckless), to save the city towing facility the bother of handling all those high priced autos suddenly impounded. What??? And he says he didn’t know about the auto loan/buy/test drive scam until recently? How so? Who is Mokwa to spout about “transparency” in police and government functions??? Why are the MAYOR and the board covering this up? What are they hiding? The Mayor is falling all over himself to sweep what he knows is an illegal enterprise under the rug. And no one is asking why, or demanding accountability? These elected (and state appointed) officials work FOR YOU. The GOVERNMENT IS YOU! Get up and demand this be blown wide open. Give the Chief the transparency in government he “says” you deserve.
And a quote from the Post attributed to Chris Goodson, president of the Board of Police Commissioners, “The private citizen using a vehicle is not improper. It’s not illegal,” Goodson said. What does he take us for? It is ludicrous the president of the Board of Police Commissioners expects us to swallow this. That depends on who the “private citizen” is Commish, and what relationship this firm has to the Chief of Police, and what relationship that “private citizen” has to the Chief of Police, and what relationship the Metropolitan Police Department has to the Metropolitan Towing Firm and what relationship the Metropolitan Towing Firm has to Park Autos, that gave the car to that “private citizen” that just so happens to be the daughter of the Chief of Police for the city of St. Louis, and so on, and so on, ad nausea. They think we are all too lazy to think about it, hoping this will blow over instead of WIDE OPEN. Come on! Let it all hang out!
Although this scandal goes back to at least 2002, Chief Mokwa only admitted to the Police Board (joke unto itself) his knowledge of the reallocation of vehicles in the “test drive” scheme AFTER being alerted that word was out and the Post was investigating in 2006. He in turn alerted the Police Commissioner Board who hires Armstrong Teasdale to “investigate”. We are just hearing about it two years later. Chief Mokwa continues to insult the citizens of St. Louis by LYING with the comforting blanket of the BOARD OF POLICE COMISSIONERS cushioning his fall with the help of Armstrong Teasdale’s secret report. From the Post: “The Police Board hired the law firm to conduct ‘independent internal investigation’ into the practice after the Post-Dispatch began asking questions about a 2006 traffic stop in Warren County in which Aimie Mokwa had been driving a previously impounded car.” (And was charged with several felonies…) “The law firm’s report cleared Mokwa and the department of criminal wrongdoing and said the investigation was closed.” HOW IN THE WORLD DO THEY COME TO THIS CONCLUSION????
By the way-the Post deserves a giant THANK YOU from the citizens of St. Louis. This may be the first stepping-stone to pave the way out of the dark ages of graft and cronyism, realizing the full potential this great city has. When thugs and grafters run a city the payoff is only one way. A city governed by clean, clear-sighted, individuals with a higher purpose, will transform. A sense of collective pride will empower everyone who lives here. Get rid of these criminals and come out of the dark ages. I love this city. I grew up here. St. Louis is so rich in beauty and history, so unique in its people, culture and promise; a scandal of this magnitude is heartbreaking. The citizens are being taken for a ride. How long has it been going on-how long will it last-before people stand up and demand accountability? St. Louisans deserve so much better. This Chief, Mayor, and Board of Police Commissioners are an embarrassment to all who live and pay taxes here. NOW the Board recommends discipline. Why suddenly? Friday it was “case closed”, no wrongdoing. No way is this an acceptable recourse.
And today, Slay, Goodson…like rats from a sinking ship. Guess we know who is CYA now. Not very stand up guys anymore, are they? They were singing a very different tune just a couple days ago. The big boys are choosing teams now,and guess who didn’t get picked????
What I am wondering is how on earth Aimee Mokwa has a driver’s license. A review of Casenet.org, public records of criminal infractions, shows that she has pages and pages of traffic violations, arrests for controlled substances, etc. There is no way she would be allowed behind the wheel, save for her connections. Her father says he has disengaged himself from her life, what about saving the rest of us from her behavior, instead of putting her behind the wheel of 4000 pounds of steel?