ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A plan before the Missouri Legislature calls for returning St. Louis Police to state control. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is not endorsing the bill but says the city police department needs more police.
State Rep. Nick Shroer of O'Fallon has pre-filed a bill to return city police to state control, and a companion bill the city prosecutor's duties and give them to the St. Louis County prosecutor. The bill says on July 1, 2023, "the board of police commissioners shall assume control of any municipal police force established within any city not within a county."
It comes after St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones turned down an offer of more than $5 million in state funds to hire more police, seeking permission to spend the money instead on other things. Parson stopped short of saying he supports a return to state control, but...
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"I think everybody needs to realize people want to live in a safe society. Whatever that takes," Parson says. "And I think that's probably the No. 1 issue, not matter whether you're in a suburban, rural or urban setting. People want to be safe. And I think people want to be safe and want to feel like other people have got their back."
Parson says he's a big supporter of getting more police on the ground and "getting back to community policing."
Voters statewide approved the plan to move St. Louis police from state to local control in 2013. But since the election of Mayor Jones, the police union has favored exploring a return to state control.
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