In 2013, a ballot measure allowed the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to be under local control for the first time since the 1800s. Now, a local State Senator has said he wants the St. Louis Police Department back under state control.
Senator Nick Schroer of St. Charles County plans to introduce a bill in the upcoming legislative session to strip St. Louis of local control of its police department. He said rampant crime makes the move necessary.
"This would take state control of the City of St. Louis Police, like we had previously, and allow us to — just as a state does — asserting their state's rights protecting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness of all citizens, especially those in the city of St. Louis," Schroer said. "That would allow us to have a bigger framework of ideas on how to tackle crime."
He said the move to local control in 2013 required the City to maintain certain conditions to keep control. He said those conditions haven't come close to being met, and it would take a legislative act to put the state back in charge.
According to NPR, many cities have had local control over their police departments for a long time, including Chicago, Baltimore and New York.
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