Social welfare group agrees with police chief over Rob Sanders’ firing

A statewide group agrees with Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton that a former officer should not get his job back at the Columbia Police Department.

The Missouri Association for Social Welfare Human Rights Task Force and its Central Missouri chapter agreed with Burton in a statement released Thursday that Rob Sanders should not be reinstated.

Rob Sanders fought to get his job back last week in a hearing after he was let go for allegedly using excessive force on a suspect in a holding cell.

The statement said that excessive force is unacceptable. The jail cell video showed Sanders shoving the arrest suspect backward into a wall.

The group says discussion over excessive force and Sanders’ appeal distracts from the need for higher standards and better training at the department.