After 152 Years of State Control, St. Louis Takes Over City Police
Legacy of the Civil War
The 152-year reign of state control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will end on Saturday.
Mayor Francis Slay is expected to sign an executive order officially accepting local control of the police department, which will begin on Sept. 1.
The outgoing state board of police commissioners will convene for its final meeting, before the city resumes control at midnight. The meeting, followed by a ceremony, is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. at police headquarters.
Pro-South politicians devised the state control of police to thwart Union sympathizers in St. Louis in 1861, as the Civil War drew near. Next month's change leaves Kansas City alone among large cities whose police are controlled by a state board.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?