The State of Missouri took a big step toward taking control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The House of Representatives approved a “state control” bill in a landslide 109-36 vote.

The debate was passionate and heated on the house floor prior to the vote on Thursday. 

“Don’t let anybody fool you,” said South County Republican State Rep. Brad Christ. “This is about supporting public safety and solving a public safety crisis in the St. Louis region that’s affecting the entire state.

His bill, HB 1481, calls for a new state police board made up of the St. Louis Mayor and four members appointed by the Missouri Governor to operate the city’s police department, staffed with at least 1,313 officers.  

The department has fewer than 900 officers now, according to the St. Louis Police Officers Association. From the Civil War until 2013, a state-appointed board ran the department from the days of the Civil War until 2013. It was initially established to keep Union supporters in St. Louis from controlling the police department’s weapons arsenal.

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