By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- The Riverview, Missouri, Board of Aldermen voted Thursday to furlough all 13 police officers, including interim Chief Brandin Neil, for an estimated three months, citing a citywide financial crisis.
- St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced the county will take over emergency policing response for Riverview “until further notice.”
- Interim Chief Neil said the city faces a tight budget and several ongoing lawsuits; he said he hopes to recall officers sooner than three months.
- The department’s disbanding follows monthslong turmoil in Riverview since former Mayor Mike Cornell was arrested in January on nine felony charges, including sexual abuse and possession of child pornography; Cornell remains in custody on $1 million bond.
- Riverview is at least the sixth north St. Louis County suburb in recent years to dissolve its police department over financial or operational concerns, joining Calverton Park, Velda City, Bel-Nor, Charlack, Pine Lawn and Kinloch.
RIVERVIEW, Mo. — St. Louis County is taking over policing in Riverview after the suburb furloughed its entire police force amid what city officials described as a financial crisis, according to county and city officials.
St. Louis County Executive Sam Page announced late Thursday that county police would step in to handle emergency response for Riverview “until further notice,” according to County Police spokeswoman Vera Clay. The Riverview Board of Aldermen voted Thursday night to furlough interim Police Chief Brandin Neil and the department’s 12 other officers for three months. Neil told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the city has a tight budget and faces several lawsuits, and that he hopes to recall officers to duty sooner than the three-month timeline.
Mayor Pro Tem Kenjit Avent did not respond to requests for comment, and Riverview City Hall, which houses the police station, was closed Friday.
The department’s disbanding is the latest development in a period of turmoil for the small suburb. Former Mayor Mike Cornell, in office since 2023, was arrested in January on nine felony charges, including sexual abuse, harassment and possession of child pornography. He is in custody awaiting trial on allegations that he abused two minors and a man over a 10-year period and sexually harassed a fourth person, and is being held on $1 million bond. A separate Post-Dispatch report detailed allegations that Cornell used his office to enrich himself, harass employees and retaliate against critics, and that he repeatedly interfered with the police department by issuing orders to officers without going through the chief.
Riverview also faces at least six active lawsuits alleging misconduct by Cornell, including one accusing interim Chief Neil of injuring a woman during an arrest at a public meeting in February 2025, an incident captured on video. St. Louis County prosecutors later dismissed related charges against the woman, an ex-alderwoman, citing insufficient evidence. Neil is at least the seventh person to serve as the city’s top police official in three years; he had separately faced two assault-related incidents prior to joining Riverview as a St. Louis police officer, one of which resulted in no charges and the other in an acquittal.
Riverview becomes at least the sixth north St. Louis County suburb in recent years to dissolve its police department over financial or other concerns, following Calverton Park, Velda City, Bel-Nor, Charlack, Pine Lawn and Kinloch. St. Louis County Police said Riverview residents should continue calling 911 as normal, and that county officers will respond.