ST. LOUIS _ The assistant police chief for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is suing the city and police department, claiming he was passed over for the position of chief of police because of his race.
In the lawsuit filed May 1, Lt. Col. Lawrence O'Toole, who is white, claims that city Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards told him, "If Jason Stockley didn't happen, you would be the police chief."
Former police officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty of murder in 2017 while O'Toole was acting police chief, setting off protests in the city and in St. Louis County. O'Toole claims in the suit that Edwards' statement is proof that he did not receive the job because of his race, a violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act.
This is not the first time O'Toole has formally complained about not getting the police chief job. He filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Missouri Commission on Human Rights in 2018, alleging racism over the selection process. In February, the state commission issued a notice of his right to sue, according to the lawsuit.
Edwards on Tuesday said that he was "very, very clear" with O'Toole about why he was not hired as chief. "I gave him several reasons why he did not get the job. And race was not one of them," Edwards said.
He said the city's response to O'Toole's human rights complaint was 18 pages, and was "very telling." Edwards said in light of that response, he was "a little surprised that he continued this."
In the suit, O'Toole claims ongoing retaliation against him has caused lost wages, non-diagnosed emotional pain, suffering, humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish, inconvenience and loss of enjoyment of life.
He is asking for compensatory damages in excess of $25,000, prejudgment interest and attorney fees.
Following the sudden retirement of former police Chief Sam Dotson in April 2017, O'Toole took over as interim police chief, a position he held when Stockley was found not guilty Sept. 15, 2017. While a police officer in 2011, Stockley shot and killed Anthony Lamar Smith after a car chase.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Stockley had planted a gun on Smith, noting that it was the former officer's DNA found on the gun and not Smith's.
However, a judge was not convinced of Stockley's guilt and ruled that the state failed to prove Stockley did not act in self-defense.
Protests erupted downtown following the not-guilty verdict. On the night of Sept. 17, 2017, police used a controversial "kettle" technique on Washington Avenue to arrest protesters, bystanders, journalists and local residents. Some of those arrested, including a Post-Dispatch reporter, accused officers of beating and pepper-spraying them when they were on the ground and complying with officers' demands.
On the same night, several city officers beat black officer Luther Hall who was working protest duty while undercover; five officers were indicted. Two have pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the assault, including lying to the FBI. Others are awaiting trial.
Less than a month after the protests, the application process for police chief opened and closed in October 2017.
Mayor Lyda Krewson appointed a citizen advisory board to assist with the selection process, and the board hosted open meetings for public input.
O'Toole claims the selection committee was openly hostile toward him, and that the public meetings were set up to embarrass him.
Current police Chief John Hayden, who is black, was promoted through that process.
Since then, O'Toole has been the only officer not to receive a $6,000 pay increase from the Proposition P sales tax, he said in his suit.
Representatives for the mayor and police did not immediately return requests for comment.
