This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 18, 2012 - After 151 years of state control of the St. Louis police department, advocates of local control have finally got a statewide measure on the Nov. 6 ballot that asks voters to allow St. Louis City Hall to take over.
But the final pitch for Proposition A will be targeted: No TV ads, but some radio spots and ads placed in regional newspapers around the state; and lots of reliance on the support of several dozen groups and more than 300 elected officials, business people and civic leaders around the state.
“We are really running a grassroots campaign,’’ said Brooke Foster, deputy campaign director for A Safer Missouri.
So are the opponents, which include the NAACP and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Jamala Rogers, spokesperson for “Citizens Against Prop A,” said at a recent news conference that the proposition’s wording may allow city officials to bar access to records in alleged cases of police misconduct.
The St. Louis County Republican Central Committee also has come out against Proposition A, contending that its passage could give too much power to Democrats who overwhelmingly control St. Louis city government.
The proposition carries national as well as historic and political significance. St. Louis and Kansas City are currently the only cities in the country with their police forces controlled by the state.
And for decades, most city police officers preferred to keep it that way. A thawing came in 2011, when the Board of Police Commissioners and the chief police group reached a collective-bargaining agreement.
On Wednesday, the St. Louis Police Officers Association announced that it now holds a “neutral position” on the proposition. The group’s executive committee had met late Tuesday to resolve some dissent within its leadership.
Association president David Bonenberger had created a stir a week ago when he sent out a letter opposing Prop A, contending that it could lead to City Hall efforts to harm police pensions.
In Wednesday’s statement, Bonenberger and the association indicated that such concerns had been resolved and that all involved now shared “a unified message.”
The association’s board described Prop A as “compromise that transfers day-to-day operation of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department over to the city but retains state control over critical issues like health insurance, survivor benefits, residency and, most importantly, pension benefits.”
Said Bonenberger, on behalf of the association: “We reached a compromise that represents the best interest of the commissioned, civilian and retired members of the department, that protects their benefits, guarantees them collective bargaining rights and fully funded a $2.5 million increase to the salary matrix. When a policeman gives you his word it means something. We reached the best compromise for our members and retirees. We’re not ashamed of that and we’re certainly not going back on our word now.”
Local control battle more than a century old
Under Prop A, the five-person board that now runs the St. Louis police department would be dissolved. Four of those members are appointed by the governor under a setup in place in 1861. The fifth member is the mayor of St. Louis.
In fact, the initial impetus for state control came from the state split during the Civil War. Confederate-aligned state leaders in Jefferson City feared that St. Louis’ police force, then the state’s largest, was going to side with Union forces.
St. Louis mayors have unsuccessfully sought for at least 40 years to regain control, arguing that state oversight has led to needless – and expensive – duplication in operations, while leaving city officials with little oversight over how the department was run.
Until legislative term limits actually kicked in a decade ago, veteran members of the Missouri General Assembly long wielded clout over police pay and promotions.
Foster with Safer Missouri echoed the stance of St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay that state control was “antiquated’’ and unfair. Slay and his allies predict that the city could save $4 million in duplicative expenses by taking over control of the Police Department.
Jeff Roorda, business manager for the police association, predicted that Proposition A will likely pass.
