Ashcroft renews calls for state control of St. Louis Police Department

ST. LOUIS – Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft is making waves in his gubernatorial campaign with a bold proposal to combat crime in St. Louis.

The Republican candidate is calling for the state to regain control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and pledging to hire 1,000 new police officers across Missouri in his first year as governor.

“Look, when St. Louis does poorly, it hurts the rest of the state. When St. Louis does well, it strengthens the rest of the state,” Ashcroft said, emphasizing the statewide impact of St. Louis’ crime problem.

Ashcroft’s plan would reverse Missouri voters’ 2013 decision to return control of the city’s police department to local authorities after more than 150 years of state control. He argues that local control has failed, citing staffing shortages and problems with resource allocation.

“Part of that is hiring 1,000 new police officers across the state in the first year. That’s not enough, but I don’t want to say 2,000 because I don’t know if I can do that in the first year. We have to have truth and judgment. If people commit a crime, they have to serve their sentence,” Ashcroft said.

When asked how he would finance this initiative while promising a drastic cut in state income taxes, Ashcroft replied, “We don’t have a resource problem, we have a resource allocation problem.”

The candidate paints a bleak picture of the current situation in St. Louis.

“The city of St. Louis is cutting police funding. They’re taking resources away from them. Officers are showing up to work. They don’t even know if there’s a car they can use when they drive through the county.”

Despite recent raises and bonuses, St. Louis is struggling to recruit new officers; the department has more than 300 vacancies.

Ashcroft believes part of the solution lies in more comprehensive support for law enforcement.

“They need to know they are supported. They need to know the law is on their side. If they do their job and follow the law, they will not face criminal or civil prosecution,” he said.

A spokesman for Mike Kehoe, Missouri’s lieutenant governor who is also running for governor, said Ashcroft is campaigning on issues that he has been working on with law enforcement for years.

“That is why every major law enforcement and public safety organization has endorsed Mike Kehoe for governor. He is the only candidate who walks his talk and truly supports the men and women who serve our communities,” the spokesperson said.

State Senator Bill Eigel is also running for governor. His campaign team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.