In the wake of the recent events in Ferguson, some have suggested that all fatality cases involving a police officer should be handled by the Missouri Attorney General rather than the locally elected prosecuting attorney.
That's a bad idea that is contrary to the ideals of the American criminal justice system, which is the best in the world.
The American prosecutor is and should remain autonomous from the governor and the attorney general. Prosecutors in Missouri are directly elected by their constituents every four years. Through this election process, they are accountable to the people they serve. By electing prosecutors, the people of each jurisdiction place their trust in them to use good judgment, and this power should not be removed from local constituents.
The Missouri Attorney General plays an important but limited role in our state criminal justice system. That office handles felony appeals and is available to assist prosecutors upon the request of the prosecutor.
To automatically shift responsibility for the handling of cases involving police officer fatalities, or any other cases for that matter, to the Missouri Attorney General would be a wide departure from our system of justice.
The proposal to strip prosecutors of their ability to prosecute police-involved fatalities is unnecessary because in Missouri there are rules already in place that prohibit them from handling cases where there is a conflict of interest. Every case a prosecutor handles is unique, and if a conflict of interest exists, another prosecutor can be appointed to handle the case.
The proponents of this measure seem to claim that a prosecutor can never be fair when evaluating whether to prosecute a police officer who works within that prosecutor's jurisdiction.
If that is the case, why stop with police officer shootings? Prosecutors frequently interact with various court employees and probation and parole officers. Should special rules be created to always prohibit prosecutors from handling their cases? Prosecutors typically know a very large number of people who reside within their jurisdictions.
Should prosecutors always be disqualified if they know who they are prosecuting, even if there is no conflict of interest? And what will happen if the attorney general has ties to the police agency involved in the fatality? Who will be the prosecutor then?
Bob McCulloch has been the elected prosecutor of St. Louis County for 24 years. Seven times, including four days before the tragic death of Michael Brown, voters in St. Louis County overwhelmingly decided that he is the prosecutor they want to work for them. Among his peers, in Missouri and nationally, Mr. McCulloch is highly respected because he is fair, dedicated, and knowledgeable. Let him do his job, and let Missouri's prosecutors do the job they were elected to do.
Daniel K. Knight, Boone County prosecuting attorney, is president of the Missouri Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.