By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – A group of St. Louis legislators is pushing a bill in Jefferson City that would give the city local control over its police department.
Since the Civil War, the St. Louis Police Department has been run by an independent board appointed by Missouri's governor.
Last week the Board of Aldermen passed a nonbinding resolution in support of local control.
Now, the St. Louis delegation wants to pursue the issue in the State Legislature.
State Representative T.D. El-Amin said he planned to introduce the bill Monday.
"This is something that has been going on far too long," El-Amin said. "There is no place in this state that doesn't control its school board nor its police department, and this is what were saying, 'it stops right now.'"
The St. Louis Police Officers Association and the Board of Police Commissioners have both opposed the measure on the grounds that it keeps the police department out of local politics.
Chris Goodson is president of the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners.
He says even though the board is appointed by the governor, it is still the citizens' board.
"Their position as governor has been that they look to the board for their input and their direction as far as the police department because we're the local citizens, we're the ones who live and work here in the city," Goodson said.
Proponents of the measure are hopeful that a new coalition with rural lawmakers will pass the bill after failing to do so in years past.