ST. LOUIS/JEFFERSON CITY (KMOX) -- Just seven years after the city of St. Louis assumed control of its police department for the first time since the Civil War, a state lawmaker wants it returned to state control.State Rep. Chris Carter (D-St. Louis) says since the city took over, the department has abandoned his northside district in favor of patrolling downtown. He says response times have become unacceptable and staffing has become an issue. He contends that wasn't the case when the state had control before, and it wouldn't be if it took over again."Right now, leadership don't report to nobody," Carter told KMOX's Charlie Brennan. "Our mayor don't report to anybody except the voters, and she don't have to report to them. But when the state had [the police department], you had seven police commissioners that reported to the state. Again, [local leaders] don't report to nobody. This is out of control, it's out of control."Carter says he'll be filing legislation calling for another statewide vote like the one in 2012 when 64 percent of Missourians voted to return police control to the city. He contends things weren't great, but they weren't as bad as they are now."You didn't have 13 children getting murdered all in one summer. You didn't have people getting robbed at gunpoint and police not responding," Carter says. "I'm not blaming the police department, I'm blaming management."Additional editing by Alex Degman© 2019 KMOX (Entercom). All rights reserved.
