Missouri bill would end St. Louis police residency rule

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- St. Louis police, firefighters and other first responders no longer would have to live in that city under a bill headed to Gov. Mike Parson's desk.

Senators on Wednesday voted 25-5 to pass the measure, which would end a decades-long requirement police live in St. Louis.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and local police said opening up hiring to nonresidents will expand the pool of potential applicants and boost recruiting for the understaffed agency.

St. Louis Police Officers' Association president Jay Schroeder in a statement said the bill will "stem the tide of departures and will be an essential tool to recruit new officers to address the chronic understaffing" at the agency.

The measure is one of several called for by the Republican governor during a special session aimed at curbing a recent surge in violent crime in the state's cities.

Critics -- including the state NAACP conference, state lawmakers and other elected officials from St. Louis -- slammed the police residency bill as taking away control from city voters, who will weigh in on the rule Nov. 3.

If Parson enacts the state bill, it will render the Nov. 3 local vote moot.

The bill gained traction in Missouri as protesters outraged by George Floyd's death in Minnesota police custody have renewed calls for a community policing model, where officers are encouraged get to know their precincts and focus on de-escalation.

St. Louis lawmakers argued hiring police who are not from the city or don't currently live there could exacerbate divides between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

State senators also spent hours Wednesday debating a proposal by Sen. Bob Onder to give the state attorney general the ability to prosecute homicides in St. Louis.

In Missouri, the attorney general currently has limited power to intervene in local criminal cases unless prosecutors ask for help.

Parson added the proposal on St. Louis crime to his legislative wishlist midway through the special session. It was widely seen as a rebuke of the city's first Black circuit attorney, Kim Gardner, who supports greater police accountability and using diversion programs instead of incarceration.

The Democrat has angered top Republican officials, including President Donald Trump. She most recently came under fire for filing criminal charges against a white couple, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, with felony unlawful use of a weapon after they pointed guns at racial inequality protesters marching past their home.

Parson has said he spoke with Trump about Gardner's decision and told the president it's difficult to remove an elected official from office in Missouri, though he didn't say whether Trump had asked whether Gardner could be removed.

Onder, the suburban St. Louis Republican who on Wednesday pitched giving the attorney general more power in St. Louis, criticized Gardner as "soft on prosecuting murders" and has called her incompetent. Last month, he floated the idea of giving the governor the authority to oust prosecutors for reasons including incompetence.

"She's wasting money prosecuting a middle-aged couple," Onder said during a Wednesday Senate debate. "She is spending time bringing these political prosecutions rather than doing her job of prosecuting murders."

Gardner won the Democratic primary for her office in August with about 61% of the vote, which St. Louis Democratic Sen. Jamilah Nasheed called a "mandate." Gardner will likely win the general election in November in the overwhelmingly Democratic city.

"And here you are trying to strip away her power simply because she's a Black woman that's standing up for criminal justice reform," Nasheed said to Onder during debate on the Senate floor.

"I don't care whether she's Black, brown or purple," Onder responded, arguing Gardner has a poor record prosecuting crime.

A similar bill never received a committee hearing in the state House, which is a strong signal there's little appetite in that chamber to pass the law.