St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will no longer be under the control of the mayor’s office and instead will be overseen by a governor-appointed board.

The injured officer had to have his leg partially amputated. The suspect remains in critical condition.

The 31-year-old officer was arresting a suspect in a Metro East carjacking when they were both hit in the express lanes of Interstate 70. The suspect remained in critical condition as of Monday afternoon.

The St. Louis Democrat also discussed some of his legislative priorities on an episode of St. Louis Public Radio’s Politically Speaking podcast.

If the Missouri House passes the bill as is, the legislation then goes to Gov. Mike Kehoe’s desk.

The legislation heard in Senate and House committees would place the St. Louis police department under a governor-appointed board.

The change to the current contract between the city and the St. Louis Police Officers Association will boost an officer’s starting pay from $53,196 to $56,920.

St. Louis had its lowest number of homicides last year since 2013, and overall crime is down 15% since 2023. Officials say the department’s use of technology is helping get people who commit crimes off the streets.

The jury that convicted Watkins in 2016 was never informed that the white officer whose testimony was the only evidence at trial had a history of racist social media posts and a previous mistaken identification of a Black man that led to a death in custody.

A federal lawsuit alleges St. Louis sheriff's deputies told the Jefferson County man he could not protest in front of the Civil Courts Building — a public area — due to department policy. No such policy seems to exist.