Push for Local Control of Police Force Could Move to Missouri Ballot
By Juana Summers
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

UPDATE: State Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, said the proposed ballot initiatives could cause legislators to dismiss the issue of local control for the St. Louis Police Department.

She said pushing forward with a ballot initiative without the cooperation of state lawmakers advocating local control wasn’t logical.

JEFFERSON CITY - A number of proposed ballot initiatives released by the secretary of state’s office today could leave the future of St. Louis City’s police force in the hands of voters.

Three ballot questions were approved for circulation, which allows supporters to begin gathering the 92,000 or so signatures needed to put an initiative on the statewide ballot. The initiative was officially submitted to the Secretary of State by Brad Ketcher, a St. Louis attorney who has previously worked with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, and in 2008 formed a PAC with the intent to fight the recall drive against Slay. Considering Ketcher’s close relationship to Slay, it’s likely the mayor would support such a move.

Two of the petitions approved for circulation would transfer the power over the St. Louis City Police Department and the police pension system to City Hall. A third would return control of the police force to the city, but not the pension fund. Control of the pension fund has been a key point for police officers and their lobbyists.

The petitions all cite unnecessary administrative costs, and say the state could save up to $1 million each year from the legal expense fund.

The St. Louis Police Department has been run by the Board of Police Commissioners, appointed by the governor, since the Civil War. Since then, city leaders and St. Louis-area lawmakers have pushed to get control back to the city.

State lawmakers have also proposed bills that would end the state’s control over the city’s police department. Sen. Joe Keaveny and Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, proposed nearly identical bills that would transfer that power back to city hall. In the House, Rep. Jamilah Nasheed, sponsored an additional bill that would return control of the police department to the city, but make no changes to the pension plan.

The bills proposed this year are nearly identical to ones pushed by former state Sen. Maida Coleman and Rep. Tishaura O. Jones last year.