MISSOURI, USA — St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones responded Friday to the failed state takeover of the local police department as homicides and shootings continue throughout city neighborhoods.
This response comes almost two months after Jones said the state takeover of St. Louis police could cost Missouri taxpayers "hundreds of millions of dollars."
The video above is from March 20.
5 On Your Side's Political Editor Mark Maxwell said in March that Jones was on a quest to retain control of the department and began warning state taxpayers that they could get stuck footing an expensive bill.
St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green also provided her take on the issue and said if the state were to take control, then the raises that have just been granted to officers would be taken away.
"I'm not sure that the General Assembly wants to actually defund our police department," she said in March.
In contrast, the St. Louis Police Officers Association has pushed for the return of state control over the department, which would lock in minimum hiring quotas and pay raises for the officers.
According to Maxwell's report, the new police union contract gives new recruits a starting salary of $54,000, which represents a $4,000 raise. Veteran officers got an even bigger raise, depending on how long they've been in the force.
If a new Board of Police Commissioners was seated, it would have to start over negotiating a new union contract.
City officials said they would sue and ask Missouri courts to find the takeover was an unfunded mandate, which is banned under the Hancock Amendment.
Last year, voters approved an exception to the amendment to compel Kansas City to spend a specified share of city revenue to fund the police department. Police unions said that exemption would also apply to St. Louis as a charter city.
If a court rules that the exception applies to St. Louis, Jones' office estimates the changes could do "significant fiscal damage" to the city budget, including roughly $18 million more in annual spending related to the transition.
The exception to the amendment is set to expire in 2026.