State Takeover of St. Louis Police Force Fiercely Opposed by Chief, Mayor

JEFFERSON CITY, MO — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones spoke out Wednesday at the Capitol against a plan to return the city’s police department to state control.

Jones, during hearings in both the Senate and House, told legislators a state takeover of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department would undermine “significant progress” the city has made on public safety.

But Sen. Nick Schroer, a St. Charles County Republican, said a state takeover offers St. Louis a “beacon of hope” and a step toward “reclaiming our city’s safety, prosperity and dignity.”

Schroer and other legislative Republicans are moving expeditiously to advance state takeover plans as part of the GOP’s crime-fighting agenda.

The state takeover measure has gained new momentum with the swearing-in of Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican who has said state control is a top priority.

With the new push underway, Jones trekked to the Capitol with Police Chief Robert Tracy and fiercely opposed the plan.

She pointed to high crime in Kansas City (whose department is under state control) and said the St. Louis department’s prior time under state control was a failure.

The city has been in charge of SLMPD since 2013 after voters statewide opted to end state control, a legacy of the Civil War.

“It was a failure that the voters rejected and, and if this body holds respect for facts and best practices, it should fail to move beyond this committee,” Jones told the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee.

Schroer’s state takeover legislation would place SLMPD under the control of a five-member Board of Police Commissioners. Four members would be appointed by the governor and one would be the mayor or the mayor’s representative.

In addition to Schroer, other proponents included representatives of the St. Louis Police Officers Association and the Ethical Society of Police. The Missouri attorney general’s office also voiced support for the plan.

Jones said crime in the city was lower than pre-pandemic levels, that homicides last year were the lowest in over a decade, and that nearly 70% of murder investigations were being cleared, compared to less than 40% four years ago.

“We have been able to nearly double our homicide clearance rate through good police work and improving community trust in law enforcement,” Jones said.

Jones said that unlike four years ago, there is now an Office of Violence Prevention that holds over 40 contracts with community organizations.

She said that four years ago, “St. Louis streets set the stage for drag racing and reckless driving” but that the city was in the process of redesigning nine major thoroughfares to reduce reckless driving. She said the city was bringing back red-light cameras “to ticket those who break our laws.”

City leaders touted lower crime in 2024 during a news conference earlier this month.

Overall crime dropped 15% between 2023 and last year, officials said. But, even while the number of murders fell, the number of shootings actually grew, the Post-Dispatch reported last week.

Schroer questioned whether crime had actually dropped in the city. But Chief Tracy defended the claim.

“Our statistics are showing crime is going down,” Tracy said. “It is going down. If you look at them, I stand by them.”

Jay Schroeder, president of the Missouri Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement after the hearing that the bills are “pro-law enforcement solutions to crack down on crime throughout Missouri, stabilize the SLMPD, and restore law and order to the urban core.”

He said the urban core has lost 40,000 residents since the local takeover in 2013 and that 1,000 officers have left the force since 2017. Schroeder said 512 of those officers have left since 2021.

He said hundreds of businesses have fled the city since 2019, with many citing safety as a main reason. The department is losing applicants due to inefficient, outdated bureaucracy, Schroeder said.

“State control is only one part of the agenda to stabilize the city of St. Louis,” Schroeder said. “If the city could fix this problem on their own, they would have done so already.”

The hearings Wednesday followed an announcement Tuesday that officers would receive a 7% raise. Officials are covering the cost by eliminating 124 vacant officer positions that have been empty for at least two years.

The move marked the city’s latest bid to address hiring and retention woes that have depleted the department of hundreds of officers in the last few years.

The department this week had roughly 860 officers, even though this year’s budget allowed about 1,220 officers.

Schroer’s legislation says the Board of Police Commissioners would need to appoint at least 1,313 patrolmen.

The Senate committee on Wednesday also heard a separate takeover bill by Sen. Travis Fitzwater of Holts Summit, while a House committee heard testimony Wednesday on a state takeover bill by state Rep. Brad Christ, R-south St. Louis County.

Additional provisions

Both Fitzwater and Christ’s bills also seek to crack down on stunt driving and more. Both would outlaw stunt driving in connection with street takeovers.

A street takeover is defined as “the act of disrupting the regular flow of traffic for the purpose of performing, facilitating, or spectating stunt driving.”

Stunt driving, the bill says, is “to operate a motor vehicle performing a race, a drag race, a burnout, a donut, a wheelie, or drifting.”

The first offense would be a class A misdemeanor, which can carry a fine and up to a year in jail.

The bills also create a committee on school safety.

It also increases the offense of rioting from a class A misdemeanor to a class D felony, which can carry up to seven years in prison.

Schroer’s legislation is Senate Bill 52. Fitzwater’s legislation is Senate Bill 44. Christ’s legislation is House Bill 495.

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