Former St. Louis City Police Chief Joe Mokwa has been under intense scrutiny since he was forced to retire this summer after misleading the city police board about exactly when he knew his adult daughter was getting extended test drives and highly discounted car purchases from a city-contracted towing lot.

But Democratic State Sen. Jeff Smith recently sang the chief’s praises because of his stand on early childhood education. Here’s what he wrote in a recent e-mail to supporters:

“I met former Police Chief Joe Mokwa about two years ago and I asked him how we could reduce crime in the City. I expected he would ask for better equipment, higher salaries, and more beat officers.”

‘Early childhood education,’ he said. ‘We’ve gotta get these kids ready to read by kindergarten. The ones that can’t read when 3^rd grade starts end up across the street.’ He nodded out the window to the city jail.”

And later, Smith wrote: “Chief Mokwa was onto something: it’s cheaper to educate than incarcerate.”

It’s an argument that’s also being championed by numerous child advocacy groups including Fight Crime: Invest in Kids which says at-risk children left out of quality pre-kindergarten are five times more likely to grow up to become criminals by age 27 than children in pre-kindergarten.

Smith, whose St. Louis district encompasses some of the city’s poorest and most crime beleaguered neighborhoods, wrote the comments after he participated in several ride-alongs with city police officers on routine patrols. He has long been an advocate for universal preschool education in the state and the city.