ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The current and former police chiefs in St. Louis are reacting to proposed budget cuts from Mayor Tishaura Jones. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment recommended not funding the city's 98 police officer vacancies.
Police Chief John Hayden says he supports the move.
"I have not been able to fill those spots," Hayden said. "People may refer to that as a hiring freeze. In fact, we've been keeping up with attrition and that's all we've been able to do in the past three and a half years."
Public Safety Director, and former Police Chief, Dan Isom also says adding more officers does not necessarily curb violence. He says homicides have been trending up in St. Louis city for the last four years.
"We're going to work very hard to change that trend and provide new ideas and new suggestions on how we can be more targeted," Isom said.
Budget Director Paul Payne says the police department was within budget last year only because those 98 police officer vacancies were not being paid.
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