The arrangement persisted until 2012, when 64% of Missouri voters approved an initiative petition returning control of the department to local leaders.
This week, the legislature is poised to reverse that vote, seize back control of the department and put it again in the hands of a board appointed by the governor.
The Missouri Senate could approve a state takeover bill as early as Monday. It would then go back to the House for a final vote to send it to Gov. Mike Kehoe, who has declared the idea a key piece of his public safety agenda.
The move caps a push for state control that began almost immediately after voters weighed in more than a decade ago, with Republican lawmakers arguing the return of the department to local hands was a failed experiment.
State Sen. Nick Schroer, a Defiance Republican who sponsored the police bill, pointed to crime figures and population decline in St. Louis as the driving motivation behind the push for change.
“We’re finally answering the call, finally backing the blue and not defunding it,” he said, later adding: “It’s going to be a game changer when it comes to public safety and moving our state in the right direction.”
Critics of the legislation point to statistics showing a drop in violent crime in St. Louis under local leadership. They say Kansas City has fared no better despite being under state control since the 1930s.
“Someone who doesn’t live in my district and wasn’t elected by the people of my district wants to take away control of the police department,” said state Sen. Karla May, a St. Louis Democrat, later adding: “Where were you when we had the highest crime we’ve ever had under 152 years of state control? The hypocrisy is real.”
(Annelise Hanshaw/Missouri Independent)
A filibuster by St. Louis senators fizzled last week after Democrats won concessions from the GOP super majority, including on the makeup of the state board that would run the department.
“After leading a filibuster that lasted nearly 10 hours, it was no longer feasible for Sen. May and I to continue our filibuster for the next two and a half months,” said state Sen. Steve Roberts, a St. Louis Democrat.
Under the bill, St. Louis would join Kansas City as the only major U.S. cities with a police force under state control.
The board running the department would consist of the mayor and five commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.
Several provisions were removed from the original bill at the insistence of Democrats, such as a mandated minimum number of officers required to be on the police force and an immediate requirement for the city to put 25% of its general revenue toward the department.
Instead, the size of the force will be determined by the board, while the city’s budget commitment will be phased in. The original bill also included a role for the police union in choosing up to four members of the commission, an idea Democrats insisted be removed.
Democrats managed to add provisions banning the shackling of pregnant prisoners, establishing a fund for exonerated prisoners to receive restitution from the state and limiting what jails and prisons can charge inmates for phone calls.
Republicans also agreed to remove a provision that broadened the definition of rioting, a change Democrats feared would have wide ranging unintended consequences.
But the major focus of the legislation was control of the St. Louis police department.
The move had support from St. Louis police unions, who argued the department was mismanaged under local leadership. But most importantly, it was a major priority of the new governor, who highlighted his support of the proposalduring his first State of the State address in January.
“As the economic powerhouse of our state,” Kehoe told lawmakers, “we cannot continue to let crime kill growth in the region and drive businesses and families to move outside of our state’s borders.”
St. Louis leaders have pointed to a drop in overall crime in the city, including a major decrease in the number of murders. But GOP lawmakers question the statistics and note that the city continues to lose population.
The bill’s likely passage this week comes days after St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones finished a distant second in the first round of balloting in the city’s mayoral primary. Alderwoman Cara Spencer garnered 68% of the vote, setting up a showdown with Jones in the April 8 runoff election.
Through a spokeswoman, Kehoe said the potential change in city leadership doesn’t impact his support for the state takeover bill.
“Increased oversight and accountability of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department with a citizen board is an important tool to improve public safety in St. Louis,” the statement said, “regardless of who wins the April 8 election for mayor.”
The success of the GOP push for state control of the department led to a heated back-and-forth between Roberts and the mayor.
Roberts laid the blame for the bill’s success at Jones’ feet, saying it has become clear that she “no longer enjoys the confidence of the people in this building.
“She couldn’t even be bothered to reach out to the senator who represents nearly the entire city of St. Louis,” he told reporters Thursday, “nor could she engage with her natural Democratic allies.”
Jones called Roberts a liar and accused him of trying to cozy up to a Republican governor for some future job opening.
“The senator is using the mayor as a convenient political punching bag to distract from the fact that he has not been at the table and is unwilling to stand up for the City of St. Louis in any meaningful way,” Jones’ spokesman said in an emailed statement. “Good luck to him on whatever appointment he is currently seeking from Gov. Kehoe.”
This story first published in the Missouri Independent. Read the original here.
