ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A lobbyist for the St. Louis Police Officers Association says plans to eliminate unfilled positions and overtime is a dangerous move. Those plans were laid out in last week's budget meeting.
Jane Dueker tells our sister station 97.1 FM there are not enough officers available to patrol the city of St. Louis.
"Frankly, if you talk to my members, the people I represent, they'll tell you there are way too many white shirts. Those people are not on the street," Dueker said.
Dueker favors reallocating resources to put more officers on patrol and to fill vacant positions now that people who live outside of St. Louis can be hired.
"All the vacancies are carried in community policing. That's all the people who are on the street on any given shift," she says.
Overtime is another big issue.
"Overtime is a misnomer in the City police department," Dueker told 97.1 FM. "That's because overtime means you're filling the nine cars in each of the six districts."
A vote on the City budget by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment comes on Thursday.
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