Missouri town's police chief faces scrutiny over past force allegations and firing of detective

The police chief of Riverview, Missouri, has a record of excessive-force allegations, fired a detective who had looked into his background, and was chosen for the job by a former mayor while that mayor was jailed, according to an investigation by First Alert 4. The report was distributed by Gray News and published by outlets including WOWT, AZFamily, WALB and Dakota News Now.

Chief Brandin Neil is one of only two commissioned officers left in Riverview after the city furloughed its City Hall and police department on Sept. 10, the outlet reported, citing state records.

First Alert 4 said jailhouse calls it obtained show that former Mayor Michael Cornell Jr. made the decision to elevate Neil while he was in the St. Louis County jail awaiting trial on alleged sex crimes. Neil told the outlet he did speak with Cornell during that time. He declined to explain why the former detective, who says he conducted Neil's background check, was dismissed, calling it a personnel matter.

The report describes three incidents captured on video in which Neil is alleged to have used excessive force. In 2019, while an off-duty St. Louis officer, Neil was charged with third-degree assault after a gas station confrontation in which footage showed him punching a man in the head with handcuffs. A judge acquitted him after a one-day bench trial in 2021. The former prosecutor, Eusef Robin Huq, told First Alert 4, "We had witnesses testify that he was the aggressor in the situation." A related federal lawsuit was dropped after the man was fatally shot in 2024 in an unrelated incident.

In 2025, Neil arrested former Alderwoman Regina Davis at a town hall meeting. She was charged with assault, accused of biting him, but the charges were later dropped. Davis is now suing Neil and the city, alleging the force was excessive. Neil declined to comment on pending litigation.

A video circulated on social media this year appears to show Neil, in uniform, punching a man on the ground outside a St. Louis nightclub. Neil said the full 25-minute recording shows de-escalation attempts, assaults on officers and resisting arrest, but did not provide it to the outlet.

First Alert 4 also cited a 2019 St. Louis Post-Dispatch report of a separate internal affairs complaint accusing Neil of tackling two people in a bar. He was never charged, and Neil said that allegation was investigated and found untrue. He left the St. Louis department later that year.

In a written statement, Neil said he has worked to bring the department into state compliance. "The betterment of this city and the protection of it's residents is my ultimate goal," he said, according to First Alert 4.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Dakota News Now, WOWT, AZFamily and WALB. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/43