Holleman: Police group slams ‘slave patrol’ post by St. Louis mayor’s father

Virvus Jones, the father of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, mentions the ESOP in a post that also recalls “slave patrols” who were “slaves (hired) to hunt slaves.”

The ESOP was founded in 1972 to address racial discrimination in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. In 2018, it expanded to cover officers in the St. Louis County Police Department.

ESOP issued a statement Monday grading the “slave patrol” post, calling it “divisive” and “dangerous.”

Virvus Jones’ full text on Twitter, posted Sunday night, also delivers a criticism of police officers in general, regardless of color:

“Most police regardless of their race believe that reducing crime is locking people up. Slave patrols, the forerunner of the police departments hired slaves to hunt escaped slaves. So don’t expect criminal justice reform to come from police of any color. Just check out @ESOP_STL.”

Mayoral spokesman Nick Desideri said that the post by Virvus Jones “was not” done at the mayor’s direction.

Desideri went on to discount the post’s news value, mostly because of the age of the writer.

“I would hope the Post-Dispatch has more interesting news to cover than what a 76-year-old senior citizen posts online,” Desideri said in the statement.

Virvus Jones, the referenced senior citizen, has been politically active in St. Louis for more than 40 years. After serving as an alderman and city assessor, he was the comptroller from 1989 until 1995. That year, he resigned his office after pleading guilty to two felony counts of tax fraud.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, Virvus Jones said his intent was not to directly compare ESOP to slave patrols, but to say that police organizations, even ones dedicated to officers of color, will not be useful in reforming the criminal-justice system.

“The police are not black, white, green or purple; the police is the police,” he said.

While the post was made under Virvus Jones’ personal Twitter account, recent phone text exchanges involving the mayor — released by the city in response to a Sunshine Law request on July 6 — indicate that the mayor at times may play a role in what her father posts on social media. (Mayor Jones later said the texts were released to the public “through an honest mistake,” but didn’t say who made the mistake or how.)

In May, at the mayor’s urging, Virvus Jones posted an item on social media directed at Alderwoman Cara Spencer, who ran for mayor in 2021 against Tishaura Jones and remains one of the her main political opponents. 

In the text exchange, the mayor pointedly suggests that her father post a reply that refutes a Spencer misstatement about political patronage rules.

“You should correct her,” the mayor says.

Shortly thereafter, Virvus Jones texts the mayor a copy of his reply.

Another errant text exchange also showed that ESOP, which endorsed Tishaura Jones for mayor, has become a political opponent, especially after it backed a failed legislative move to return the city police department to state control.

In a text exchange about ESOP with political adviser Richard Callow, Tishaura Jones notes that she had bested several unions and ESOP to thwart the state takeover of city police.

“And ESOP still won’t shut the f— up,” Tishaura Jones said.

In its statement Monday, ESOP said the social media post seeks to undermine their organization and other groups “who have fought for decades to increase accountability.”

“We understand politics, and Mr. Jones is obviously serving the bidding of those who seek to damage our credibility, particularly with voters,” the statement continues.

Finally, ESOP said it “will continue to testify and speak out against policy that is not in the best interest of safety for citizens and/or police officers.”

Charles Wilson, a 44-year police veteran who served 13 years as national chairman for the national Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, said he had no disagreement with noting the connection between slave patrols and modern police forces.

“But most all of the Black officers I’ve known are very involved with community issues and work to ensure that people’s rights are observed,” he said.

Wilson continued, however, to say that Virvus Jones’ post was “highly insulting — and not just to ESOP, but to every Black officer across the country.”

Shortly after the errant text exchanges containing the negative comments were released earlier this month, Tishaura Jones said she would “contact the relevant parties to ensure productive dialogue moving forward.”

As of Tuesday, ESOP president Sgt. Donnell Walters said that since the text exchanges were made public, he has not heard from the mayor or any one from her office.