If civil unrest spreads to Jefferson County, the Sheriff’s Office will be ready, Sheriff Dave Marshak said.
The Sheriff’s Office recently bought about $100,000 in protective gear to respond to riot situations, but that doesn’t mean the county’s largest law-enforcement agency is militarizing itself, Marshak said.
The Jefferson County Council voted unanimously June 8 to allow the Sheriff’s office to spend $530,000 from its reserves on a variety of equipment, including the $100,000 in riot gear.
And, while the emergency ordinance allowing the expenditure happened after George Floyd was killed May 25, while Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck, Marshak said plans to buy the equipment had been in the works for months.
“In discussions going back to early last year, we were trying to identify weaknesses for Jefferson County law enforcement, and having proper protective equipment for officers (in a riot situation) was one of those areas,” he said.
Marshak said Sgt. Brian Rossomanno was directed to research equipment, cost and training for riot situations.
Marshak said Rossomanno has experience in the field. He was in charge of training the St. Louis Municipal Police Department and managing its special weapons and tactics (SWAT) team for 12 years before he was hired in Jefferson County.
“His expertise and experience with protests that erupted from Ferguson and the Stockley verdict has been beneficial to all of Jefferson County law enforcement,” Marshak said.
He said before the purchase, only the Jefferson County SWAT team had equipment to respond to a riot.
“This is not a question of whether something is going to happen in Jefferson County, but when,” Marshak said. “We haven’t had a violent protest for whatever reason in Jefferson County yet, and that’s good, but that doesn’t mean it will never happen here.”
Marshak said to date, the Sheriff’s Office has spent about $100,000 to buy helmets and face shields to protect officers from thrown objects and people spitting in their faces, and supplies needed to make mass arrests.
He said more purchases may be made in the future, but he doesn’t anticipate having to spend the entire $530,000 budgeted in any event.
“And we’re not spending more than a half-million dollars on riot gear,” he said.
Other purchases made with the budget request include about $45,000 for durable laptop computers, $225,000 for two prisoner transport vans, $75,000 for 55 vehicle gun racks, $40,000 for radar antennas, $25,000 for evidence lockers plus $11,600 for supplies for the evidence department, $35,000 for two K-9 officers and $35,000 for training.
It’s the expenditure on training Marshak said he wanted to focus on, and a reason why he doesn’t believe the stories about police officers responding poorly in some situations should happen here.
“We train more than any other law enforcement agency in the county, and we train the other law enforcement agencies in the county,” he said. “We will continue to invest in our police officers, and provide them all the tools they can have to make good decisions.
“We absolutely do as much training as we can do and still keep officers on the street. Every day, something happens that I think, ‘I’d love to train more on this issue.’”
Marshak’s commitment to training led to him being appointed by Gov. Mike Parson to a vacancy on the state’s Police Officer Standards and Training Commission, which establishes police training standards and advises the state Department of Public Safety on law enforcement issues.
“I believe our collective goal is twofold,” Marshak said of his appointment. “First, to improve public trust in regard to police training standards. Second, support academies and law enforcement agencies any way possible as they train the professionals that risk their personal safety for us every day.”
Response to Floyd death
Marshak said he didn’t spend a lot of time addressing his officers in the aftermath of the Floyd death.
“We’ve already had policies in place to fully address these issues,” he said. “They’ve been in place for decades and served us well. I didn’t feel the need to have a lot of discussion with my staff. They know the policies well. They are tested on our use-of-force policy once a month. All of our officers watched the same video everyone else did, and they recognized the problems.”
Marshak said his officers also are well-versed on the Sheriff’s Office’s policy on the chokeholds.
“Our policy is and has been for some time that we only allow them during lethal encounters, meaning the officer is fearing serious physical injury or death,” he said.
Marshak said the Sheriff’s Office also has a policy covering the situation in Minneapolis, where three fellow police officers failed to intervene while Chauvin was kneeling on Floyd’s neck.
“We have a policy that it is an officer’s duty to intervene if the use of force by a fellow officer is excessive, to stop a fellow officer if that’s happening. This is something that’s been impressed upon each member of our staff,” he said. “When things get heated out there – and it does – sometimes another set of eyes can help de-escalate the situation. Are there times when a police officer who’s been in a physical confrontation goes too far? At times, it happens. That’s when it’s the responsibility of a fellow officer to intervene. I don’t believe it’s a widespread problem in our county. You can’t take the human element out of policing, but I believe our officers understand they will be and are held accountable for their actions.”
He said there have been protests held in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, but few problems as a result.
“Our position is that as long as there is peaceful protesting, we will accommodate and support requests to keep them safe. We believe in the Constitution, and support citizens’ right to protest the police and their government,” he said. “However, we have no patience for violence against persons, police, or businesses. Damaging our community will result in immediate arrest, follow-up investigation, and contact with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to seek criminal charges. We have historically complained about a lack of space at the jail, but will make space for rioters.”
Marshak said to date, there has been only one arrest in Jefferson County in connection with a protest.
That occurred June 3 at the Sabre Security Equipment Corp. in unincorporated Fenton, which among other things, contracts with the military and law enforcement agencies to provide pepper spray.
“There were several protests there with most of them relatively peaceful. When counter protesters arrived at one event, a disturbance broke out,” Marshak said. “In the process, the deputy was assaulted, and that person (Kayle Jerome Day, 20, of Pilot Grove) was arrested.”
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Day with two counts of resisting or interfering with an arrest, a misdemeanor.
Marshak said he has told his officers not to be distracted by events going on elsewhere.
“Going forward, I let the officers know that the community in general supports law enforcement, and that they are servants, and that they should continue serving,” he said. “I told them to stay positive, and focus on the job and their mission.”