Missouri’s police officer “bill of rights,” passed in 2021, closed most police misconduct records and internal investigations to the public. However, building relationships with local officers can sometimes help you gain access to useful information. As part of our toolkit for covering local police misconduct, we’ve made a brief list of documents you might want to ask for, including examples of what those records can look like.
The list below contains sample records from police departments in Missouri that could support or lend context to your police accountability reporting. These documents are all several years old, so the current format of each document may be different from what appears here. These examples are provided solely to give a sense of the documentation maintained internally by local law enforcement agencies, and to help you know what to request or ask a trusted source about. We redacted personal information from several documents to protect the privacy of those mentioned.
We organized the records in clusters according to whether they are likely to be subject to public records/Missouri Sunshine law; however, not every law enforcement agency handles requests the same way. If you’re unsure whether a specific record is open to the public, we recommend just requesting it and seeing what you get.
Likely open: The following documents are likely subject to public records law, and should be requestable.
1. Implicit bias training evaluation: This is an independent evaluation of a police department by university researchers, assessing officers’ awareness of and ability to mitigate implicit bias. Independent evaluations can be triggered by a specific instance of misconduct, or be conducted purely for research purposes.
2. Inter-office memorandum, department strategic focus areas: This is a memo from a commanding officer to the police chief outlining the areas they believe should be a priority in the department’s broader strategy.
3. Chief’s letter, apology from the chief of police: This is a letter sent to a civilian by the department’s police chief, apologizing on behalf of the department for an officer’s poor conduct. Refer to document 5: Internal investigation summary report for the civilian’s complaint and details on the subsequent investigation.
4. Chief’s letter, notification of findings/conclusion of investigation: This is a letter sent to a civilian by the department’s police chief, notifying them that an investigation into their complaint has concluded. Refer to document 6: Internal investigation summary report for the civilian’s complaint and details on the subsequent investigation.
Likely closed: The following documents are likely closed to the public, pursuant to Missouri’s officer bill of rights.
5. Internal investigation summary report: This is the internal investigator’s report following a complaint made by a civilian against two police officers. Refer to document 3: Chief’s letter, apology from the chief of police for outcome.
6. Internal investigation summary report: This is another internal investigator’s report following a different complaint made by a civilian against two police officers. Refer to document 4: Chief’s letter, notification of findings/conclusion of investigation for outcome.
7. Internal investigation summary report: This is the internal investigator’s report following a complaint made by a civilian against a sergeant.
8. Employee complaint/interview notification: This is a letter notifying an officer that a complaint was filed against them by a civilian.
9. Incident summary, citizen report: This is a complaint that was filed by a civilian against a police officer, including information about where the incident happened and interviews with investigators from the department.
10. Internal investigation summary report: This is the internal investigator’s report following a complaint made by one member of the department against another. Refer to document 11: Inter-office memorandum, written reprimand for outcome.
11. Inter-office memorandum, written reprimand: This is a written reprimand to an officer from their supervisor, following an investigation. Refer to document 10: Internal investigation summary report for investigation summary.
12. Internal investigation complaint summary: This is a complaint from one member of the department against another.
13. Inter-office memorandum, use of force: This is a memo from a member of the department’s professional standards division (which handles internal affairs) to a supervisor, flagging the behavior of a specific officer who has a notable pattern of use-of-force incidents.
14. Inter-office memorandum, notification of investigation: This is a memo from a member of the department’s professional standards division (which handles internal affairs) to a supervisor, notifying them about an ongoing investigation involving a police officer’s off-duty behavior.
15. Inter-office memorandum, notification of discipline: This is a memo sent from a member of the department’s professional standards division (which handles internal affairs) to an officer, notifying them that an investigation into a complaint against them is completed, and relaying the outcome of the investigation.
16. Pre-termination letter: This is a letter alerting a police officer that they are under consideration to be fired from the department.
Likely to depend on the department/agency: The following documents may be requestable. See below for conditions that could impact your ability to access them.
17. Incident action plan: This is a plan created by the department outlining how it intends to respond to specific conditions in a certain area — such as neighborhoods affected by a natural disaster — for a designated period of time. This document is likely subject to public records law, and should be requestable depending on the nature and recency of the operation you’re inquiring about.
18. Special enforcement action plan: This is a memo detailing a planned police operation organized by the department. This document is likely subject to public records law, and should be requestable depending on the nature and recency of the operation you’re inquiring about.
19. Inter-office memorandum, after-action report: This is a memo from a supervisor reporting back to the head of his precinct with the outcome of a recent operation. This type of document is likely subject to public records law, and should be requestable depending on the nature and recency of the operation you’re inquiring about.
20. Training simulation scenario: This is an excerpt from a simulation that officers (or prospective officers) use for training. Whether this document is open to the public will likely depend on which agency you are requesting it from, and what aspect of training you’re curious about.
