ST. LOUIS — The membership for Black police officers in St. Louis has expressed concerns about Mayor Tishaura Jones’ support of an idea to cut 150 vacant police officer positions from the budget.
The Ethical Society of Police wrote, in part: “St. Louis City has a ‘right now problem’ relative to violent crime, so any measure that does not include adequate police staffing is misguided. The imbalance between the number of calls for service in the busiest districts to the number of officers assigned leaves little time for proactive patrols and community building.”
The Board of Estimate and Apportionment met Thursday and heard from about 40 people who called for the city to defund the department, starting with eliminating the 150 vacant police officer positions that have gone unfilled for years.
Most of the commenters were members of organizations that support similar ideas found in Jones’ campaign platform, including ArchCity Defenders, and estimated the elimination of the positions would result in $10 million savings to the city that could be invested into more social service-type of causes to prevent crime.
The board includes Jones, Comptroller Darlene Green and Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed. They agreed to revisit the idea during their meeting Thursday.
Jones supporters including Emilia Hinckley told the board St. Louis police officers are “inept and brutal failures” who “routinely fail” at their job and are “one of the deadliest police departments in the country.”
“They will continue to murder residents with impunity,” she said.
Green read several other names of residents who submitted written comments also calling for city leaders to take away funding to the city's SWAT team, the Real Time Crime Center where hundreds of surveillance cameras and other police technologies converge along with the ShotSpotter system that uses audio waves to detect gunshots.
“I do intend, after hearing the comments, to definitely move to recommend to the other members of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment to look at substantial reductions when it comes to police positions that have gone vacant for several years,” Green said.
A spokesman for Jones reiterated that nothing has been finalized.
“The City is not under a hiring freeze for police, and no police positions have already been cut,” he wrote. “The mayor is committed to supporting more proactive measures that address the root causes of crime and you will see some of those priorities reflected in tomorrow’s E&A meeting.”
The Ethical Society agrees with Jones’ idea on investing in programs to prevent crime, but cautioned: “The issues that we face within the city are multifaceted and can't be solved by the police department alone. The problem solving process requires active participation from our city’s leadership to include the police chief, circuit attorney, public safety director, mayor, and citizens alike. Therefore, budgetary expenditures should be based on input from various perspectives, be data driven and transparent.
“We strongly support alternative response measures that include mental health professionals and social service programs as part of the necessary, long-term solution. However, positive gains will be difficult to realize if police are unable to switch from being simply responsive to being proactive. To do so requires proper staffing so officers aren’t stacking calls for service. Hopefully, with the influx of $500 million in federal aid, city officials can figure out how to do all of the above.”