The Missouri legislature, ignoring the will of St. Louis residents and voters statewide, on Tuesday stripped authority over the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department from the city and put it in the hands of Gov. Mike Kehoe and the state.
“This bill is disrespectful, it’s pathetic, and it’s cowardly,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones in a release.
Jones said the legislature, including several Democrats who sided with Republicans, knows the seizure of control will do nothing to address crime in St. Louis.
“There is one thing that the bill sponsors and I agree on – that this bill is not a crime plan,” said Jones.
“My administration and I have spent the last four years addressing the realities of crime in our city. We continue to improve 911 response times, we’ve introduced call diversion programs, we’ve invested in community organizations that address the root causes of crime, and all this has resulted in a historic decrease in crime.
“All this bill does is halt and reverse our progress in service of allowing a small number of non-city-residents to pat themselves on the back because they succeeded in taking away the will of the voters once again.”
State Rep. Del Taylor of St. Louis said on the House floor, “Taking over the St. Louis police department has nothing to do with reducing crime.”
“The state ran the department for many years, and the people of Missouri voted to return it to local control.”
Nimrod Chapel, Missouri NAACP president echoed the sentiment that the takeover is racially motivated.
“This isn’t about public safety,” said Chapel.
“This is about control; white politicians using the tax dollars of a majority-Black city to fund a police force that will not answer to them.
“This latest attack on local majority rule mirrors Missouri’s long-standing state control of the Kansas City Police Department, originally imposed due to internal corruption. Meanwhile, state lawmakers claim that St. Louis is incapable of managing its own public safety, even as Springfield, Mo., a city with similar or worse crime rates in key categories remains untouched.”
State Rep. Marlon Anderson said race is the motivating factor in the state takeover, not crime or support of police.
“The two largest cities in this state with the most African American population are going under state control,” he said.
“Do I think that’s a coincidence? No, I don’t. I see the agenda and it’s written on the wall.”
Chapel praised the work of Sen. Karla May and other Democrats who did win several concessions on the final bill that was passed.
A requirement for a mandated minimum number of officers on the police force and an immediate requirement for the city to put 25% of its general revenue toward the department were scrubbed from the bill.
The original bill also legislated that police unions would choose four members of the commission. The shackling of pregnant prisoners is banned, and a fund for exonerated prisoners to receive restitution from the state will be established.
Republicans also removed a provision that broadened the definition of rioting, which Democrats feared could lead to a stifling of 1st Amendment rights.
Megan Green, Board of Aldermen president, said the police takeover is part of a GOP conservative agenda.
“HB 495 has never been about making St. Louis safer. It’s about exerting control over Democratic cities. The same lawmakers pushing this issue are also working to overturn the worker protections and reproductive rights voters approved last November,” Green said.
14th Ward Alderman Rasheen Aldridge called the takeover “a blatant attack on our city and a slap in the face to every resident of St. Louis.”
“This decision, driven by extreme MAGA Republicans, shows they have no real concern for the crime in our city, they just want to impose their control. We cannot let these outside extremists dictate the future of our city. We must stand together and fight back against this overreach.”
Also ignoring the voters of the city and state is the Ethical Society of Police who supported the state takeover.
“The vote to return the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to State Control is a win for all City officers, who will finally get more support to do the tough job of deterring crime and protecting our citizens,” the organization said in a release.
“ESOP’s more than 200, mostly minority members, as well as an overwhelming majority of all SLMPD officers have supported this bill because we’ve experienced negative changes, day in and day out, since losing state control.”
This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with corruption and the mishandling of city funds. Police bike aren’t being paid. Vehicle sit in disrepair. The shooting range has been closed due to lack of maintenance/funds. Uniforms/equipment can’t be purchased because bills haven’t been paid. You only get so much on credit before vendors cut you off.