Wesley Bell was born on November 5,1974 and is an American attorney, former public defender, former municipal prosecutor and judge, former municipal prosecutor and former city council member for Ferguson, Missouri.
28 Facts About Wesley Bell
2.
Currently, Bell holds the office of Prosecuting Attorney for St Louis County, Missouri.
3.
Wesley Bell became the first black county prosecuting attorney in St Louis County history when he took office in January 2019.
4.
Wesley Bell is the son of a police officer father and civil servant mother.
5.
Wesley Bell is a graduate of Hazelwood East High School, Lindenwood University, and University of Missouri School of Law.
6.
Wesley Bell later joined the faculty of Florissant Valley Community College as a professor in the criminology department.
7.
In December 2018, a month before Wesley Bell took office, the St Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Office attorneys and investigators voted to join the St Louis Police Officers Association a chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police which represents police officers in a neighboring jurisdiction.
8.
However, at least some of the employees' concerns seemed to be justified after Wesley Bell terminated three veteran prosecutors within hours of beginning his term.
9.
On January 8,2019, Wesley Bell released details of his "Wesley Bell Plan".
10.
Additionally, during his first days in office Wesley Bell elected to stop prosecuting criminal child support cases.
11.
Wesley Bell responded that he was trying to ensure that people would not face criminal charges for being unable to pay and that such charges made it harder for debtors to pay their child support.
12.
Wesley Bell stated that he was bringing St Louis County into line with the rest of the State of Missouri.
13.
Wesley Bell campaigned on a platform of opposition to the death penalty.
14.
Former St Louis police chief Tim Fitch has urged Wesley Bell to turn the case over to federal prosecutors so that they can seek the death penalty.
15.
Wesley Bell, reversing the trend over the past several years, charged the police officer with felony assault in the second degree.
16.
Wesley Bell was one of the first people at the scene and promised a transparent investigation.
17.
However, after nearly a year and a half, in December 2020, Wesley Bell announced he would not charge the officer.
18.
Wesley Bell blamed the delay on being unable to obtain video due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
19.
However, a police report released by Wesley Bell's office indicated that Wesley Bell's office had the video on November 29,2019.
20.
Wesley Bell ultimately found, like his predecessor Bob McCulloch and the Obama DOJ, that there was no probable cause to charge Darren Wilson with murder or manslaughter.
21.
The lawsuit further alleged that Wesley Bell had created a hostile work environment for female attorneys at the office.
22.
Wesley Bell responded by claiming that the prosecutor's attorney was irresponsibly and unethically attempting to litigate his case in the media.
23.
Wesley Bell cited Ferguson's ex-wife working for Bell's campaign for prosecutor and donating money to Bell as proof of this assertion.
24.
Wesley Bell has been criticized for his use of government resources while in office.
25.
In June 2019, KSDK, a local news outlet, reported that Wesley Bell had amassed nearly $800 in parking tickets for parking in no-parking zones and in front of fire hydrants outside of his office, despite the fact that he was provided with a parking space.
26.
Wesley Bell later paid off the parking tickets using his own money.
27.
The investigation uncovered that Wesley Bell had spent over $30,000 in government funds on travel and food during his first ten months in office.
28.
Under pressure from his supporters, Wesley Bell ultimately apologized for this scandal and vowed to spend taxpayer money more appropriately in the future.