Bill that would put St. Louis police under state control advances in Missouri legislature

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - An expansive public safety bill could soon be on the Missouri governor’s desk, after senators worked late into the night to come to an agreement on it.

In addition to putting the St. Louis Metropolitan Police under state control, this bill covers immigration, restitution and much more. Democratic senators who stand against putting the St. Louis Metropolitan Police under state control used a 10-hour filibuster yesterday to negotiate new on the expansive public safety bill.

The things they added and changed would:

Require of what would be the St. Louis Police board to be approved by St. Louis senators
Make it so pregnant women cannot be handcuffed by police
Provide restitution for wrongfully convicted people
Limits price gouging on inmate phone calls

The restitution piece was vetoed by the previous governor, but this way, they can almost guarantee it will not get vetoed.

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“As the governor mentioned in his State of the State address, this is one of his priorities, and now that it’s attached to the bill, they wouldn’t be able to separate it out unless he vetoed the entire bill,” said Democratic Sen. Steve Roberts.

One of the provisions taken out of the bill during negotiations would have increased the penalty for rioting to a felony punishable with several years of jail time. Rioting is defined in the bill as, “a person assembling with six or more persons and thereafter violating any of the criminal laws of this state or of the United States.” Senators say removing this provision was a bipartisan agreement.

St. Louis is responsible for 45% of Missouri’s economy, according to the Missouri Economic Research Center. It’s also home to the state’s most popular tourism destination: the Gateway Arch. That aside, most of the provisions in this bill will be applied to the entire state.

“Addressing the crime will allow for businesses to come back, people to come back, tourism and economic generation to come back to the city as well,” said Republican Sen. Nick Schroer.

If this bill es, St. Louis and Kansas City would be the only two cities in Missouri where the mayor does not control the police force. Kansas City’s crime rate has increased since it went under state control, according to FBI data.

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St. Louis Police was under state control until residents voted against it in 2012, it took about five years after that for the city to take back its police force. St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy says the record since then should speak for itself.

“We continue the strategies to see what works and when it works we continue to do it,” Tracy said. “If it doesn’t, find out where it’s going wrong and readjust.

This bill is expected to move quickly. The Senate plans to send it to the House next week, and if there are no further changes, it’s possible this will be the first bill sent to the governor this year.

Some other pieces of this bill are:

Enhanced Penalties for Stunt Driving and Street Takeovers: Repeat offenders will now face felony charges, aiming to curb dangerous driving behaviors.
Strengthened Child Welfare Protections: First-degree child endangerment will be classified as a “dangerous felony,” especially when involving fentanyl or other drugs.
School Safety Committee: A new Committee on School Safety will be created to develop guidelines to prevent school firearm violence.