The best crime-fighting tool is early childhood education, said Redditt Hudson, a former police officer running for the Missouri Senate.
It’s a point that St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Dan Isom has made many times, Hudson said, and he whole-heartedly agrees. If Hudson is elected to the state Senate, he said, “I will make sure that early childhood education is properly funded.”
Hudson, 47, is running for state Senator in the 13th District, covering much of North County, against veteran state Rep. Gina Walsh in the Democratic primary on August 7.
As a program associate for the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri, Hudson has worked to address violence in schools and communities and create opportunities for youth. He currently is on leave from the ACLU to campaign for office.
In his legislative role, Hudson said his main focus would be fostering jobs and economic development, which go hand in hand with quality education.
“You cannot compete globally or nationally for jobs without a quality higher education and elementary and secondary education,” Hudson said.
At the ACLU, Hudson has been a leader in fighting for criminal justice reform and has traveled nationwide to give presentations on the topic. Hudson wrote the 2009 ACLU report that detailed degradation, drug-smuggling and abuse in the city jails. Dismissed by the Slay administration as alarmist and unfounded, the report preceded a series of escapes and deaths in the city jails and a busted drug ring of jailers.
After its release, the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen passed a resolution that mandated the ACLU and city officials work together to create an independent oversight agency of the city jails. However, after long delays from city officials to review the proposals, ACLU representatives became frustrated and negotiations died.
Public safety with integrity
For five years, Hudson was a patrol officer in North St. Louis for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and also worked in human resources and intelligence.
“I’ve been shot at, enforcing the law in this state,” he said. “I know how important it is to maintain public safety. I also know how to do that job with integrity.”
In both legislative and community settings, Hudson has addressed issues of affirmative action, equal treatment under the law, and racial profiling. Hudson said he will fight to make sure inclusion is part of the discussion of job creation and development opportunities.
“We have to spread the resources so that inclusion becomes the hallmark in our region,” Hudson said. “Inclusion has to be part of the economic development plan from its beginning.”
Hudson and his wife Hope live in North County with their daughters Lauryn and Faith. Redditt has another daughter, Elizabeth, who lives in Arizona, and a stepson, Justin. Hudson said he has been recognized by the Ferguson-Florissant School District as its parent of the year.
“I am optimistic about North County and of what we can build in the 13th District,” Hudson said.
“With the faith community and intellectual capital, if we become committed, we could really become a destination in the region.”
Hudson’s work and plan for the office have received endorsements from the Ecumenical Leadership Council, Planned Parenthood, Coalition of Black Trade Unions (CBTU), and Fire Fighters Institute for Racial Equality (FIRE). Hudson said he’s also been endorsed by members of Missouri Progressive Action Group, members of the Spanish Lake Democratic Committee and members of the Ferguson/Florissant and Jennings School Boards.
