ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson says that a fatal shooting has led to a change in his department’s use of force policy.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Dotson told members of a Board of Aldermen committee Wednesday he’s assigning four detectives to a new “force investigative unit” that will examine officers’ use of deadly force.
He also told elected leaders that all police-involved shootings will be reviewed by the Circuit Attorney’s Office for possible criminal charges.
Twenty-five-year-old Kajieme Powell was shot by two city officers last month while waving a steak knife after stealing two energy drinks and a bag of doughnuts from a convenience store. His death came 10 days after the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown several miles away in Ferguson.
