OFFICIAL STATEMENT: Passage of State Control Bill

OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE ETHICAL SOCIETY OF POLICE

The vote to return the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to State Control is a win for all City officers, who will finally get more support to do the tough job of deterring crime and protecting our citizens.

ESOP’s more than 200 mostly minority members as well as an overwhelming majority of all SLMPD officers have supported this bill because we’ve experienced negative changes, day in and day out, since losing state control.

Now the work can begin to improve morale as much as the facilities that are in disrepair. To invest in officer training rather than requiring officers to pay for professional development expenses out of their own pockets. To be free from an antiquated human resources department with hiring practices that truly impeded the recruiting, hiring, retention, and promoting of officers. To make progress towards filling critical gaps in officer and 911-dispatcher staffing that leave holes in our crime response and prevention. And, to better support civilian employees who were left out of recent pay raises and whose positions, in many cases, were downgraded to fit the City’s employment structure under local control.

This bill is also a win for citizens, especially with the additional policy changes that were packaged with it such as the new Missing and Murdered African American Women and Girls Task Force, new rules against stunt driving, penalties for organized theft rings that raid our local businesses, protections for pregnant inmates and adolescent victims of sex trafficking, and more.


ESOP has steadfastly and publicly opposed local control since 2010 when it was first proposed. Let’s be clear – there’s still plenty of work ahead and it’ll take time. But, having worked under both systems, we’re confident that this is the start of the path to much-needed improvements that will benefit law enforcement, civilian workers, and the citizens of our great city.