David Carson/Post-Dispatch
Missouri’s governor has overwhelming power over St. Louis’ Board of Police Commissioners, the governing body of the city police department. Four of the board’s five members are his appointees; the city’s mayor is the ex-officio fifth member.
Police commissioners get a…
Soulard Mardi Gras Parade 2000 (Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.)
With municipal budgets expected to be stagnant or worse for years to come, and with police services usually the largest item on those budgets, how should cities set priorities?
Obviously, the first priority…
A sign marks the offices of Hi-Tech Security, a private company that patrols residential neighborhoods in the city. Elie Gardner/Post-Dispatch
It’s no secret that many, if not most, police officers “moonlight.” Officers depend on overtime or off-duty jobs to supplement their…
AP Photo/Kelley McCall
St. Louis Alderman Charles Quincy Troupe, a Democrat representing the First Ward, is urging his constituents to start carrying firearms to protect themselves and their property. The St. Louis Police Department, he proclaimed, has lost the trust of the…
Missouri State Sen. Jeff Smith went riding with St. Louis police over the summer, and wrote an account worth reading — mainly because there’s no sugar coating.
The account includes this:
I met former Police Chief Joe Mokwa about 2 years ago and…
St. Louis’ Board of Police Commissioners has begun the process to select a new chief of police. According to a news account, 13 candidates have expressed an interest — all drawn from the department’s command staff among officers with the rank…
On Monday, five people were killed in less than six hours on the streets of St. Louis. Seen from a gated suburban community or a small country town, that may reinforce a view that the city is no place for…
