Missouri state briefs 1/6/19

STL Co. police chief proposes merging city, county departments

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis County police chief has proposed a consolidation of city and county police departments.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported St. Louis County police chief Jon Belmar's combined department would have 2,654 commissioned officers. The city now has 1,328 and the county has 1,006 officers. The proposal states the focus would be to "secure the downtown and central corridor."

The plan also calls for leaving the 52 municipal police departments in the county intact.

St. Louis police chief John Hayden issued a statement saying it would be premature to comment on the plan.

STL Co.’s prosecutor reverses judge policy of predecessor

CLAYTON, Mo. -- St. Louis County's new prosecutor has reversed a policy implemented by his predecessor to transfer cases away from two circuit judges.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wesley Bell's policy change announced Thursday overturned a policy implemented by former prosecutor Bob McCulloch just a month before he left office. Bell defeated McCulloch in the August Democratic primary and ran unopposed in November. He was sworn in Monday.

McCulloch did not explain why he ordered his trial attorneys to file motions to move cases away from the two judges, Kristine Kerr and Nancy Watkins McLaughlin, other than it was the result of "an accumulation of things over a period of time." It followed recent cases where the two judges gave sentences more lenient than recommended.