Missouri Republican lawmakers are again considering legislation that removes local control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
The Missouri Senate and House held hearings Wednesday on bills that would have the department governed by a majority-state appointed board.
A Senate committee heard two bills on the matter while the House heard one.
Sen. Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, is a sponsor of one of the bills.
“This bill aims to improve accountability by establishing a dedicated board ensuring that the police department operates with transparency and is accountable to the citizens that it serves,” Schroer said.
Through both Schroer’s legislation and a bill by Sen. Travis Fitzwater, R-Holts Summit, control of the department would move from the mayor’s office to a five-person board.
The board would consist of four governor-appointed commissioners who would serve alongside the president of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen.
Additionally, the legislation also requires the size of the police force to be no fewer than 1,313 members.
On Tuesday, city officials announced the police department will cut long-vacant positions to fund 7% raises. That means on paper, the SLMPD would have 1,100 officers when fully staffed, down from 1,224 at the start of the fiscal year last July. But with fewer than 900 officers, the city is nowhere close to meeting even the new authorized strength.
As in prior sessions, the bill has its proponents and detractors.
The first person to speak against the legislation was St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones. She said placing the department back under state control would not make St. Louis safer.
“State control over our police department was a failure. It was a failure that the voters rejected, and if this body holds respect for facts and best practices, it should fail to move beyond this committee,” Jones said.
The St. Louis department has been under local control since 2013, after Missouri voters approved a ballot measure in 2012. It marked the first time in over 150 years that the mayor’s office had authority over the department.
Currently, only Kansas City’s police department is under state control.
Jones said contrary to the claims that St. Louis has become more dangerous under local control, crime is down in St. Louis.
“We are safer today because we are investing in prevention, intervention and enforcement,” Jones said.
The department announced last week that overall crime in St. Louis was down 15% since 2023. Additionally, the department said St. Louis’ 150 homicides in 2024 is the lowest since 2023.
While Schroer expressed skepticism on the validity of those numbers, Jones said the department’s statistics are audited each year.
St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy testified against the bill for the third year in a row. He said in his testimony that in his many years of policing, he’s only operated under a system that is locally controlled.
“I work for a mayor who has given me the tools, has given me the autonomy, and it's taken politics out of policing. And what a board will do, I'll deal with five different people, but this mayor is taken out,” Tracy said.
Two of St. Louis’ police unions spoke in favor of the legislation.
Jay Schroeder, president of the St. Louis Police Officers Association, said the department has crumbled under local control.
“The city police is in the hands of progressive city politicians who don't support officers and are consistently looking for alternatives to traditional policing,” Schroeder said.
The past legislative few sessions, efforts to place the St. Louis department back under state control have cleared some legislative hurdles but not enough to make it to the governor’s desk.
This year, however, the idea has momentum with the strong backing of Gov. Mike Kehoe.
Lawmakers are also hearing the measures during the first possible week bills could be heard in committee, which is a sign of their priority.
