St. Louis City Police Control Question (November 2012)

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Local Measures

A St. Louis City Police Control Question was on the November 6, 2012 ballot in St. Louis City, where it was approved.

This measure sought to give local control and oversight to the local police force in St. Louis instead of control being in the hands of state officials. The Chief of Police spoke out on this measure, stating his concern that many duties and obligations of locally controlled police are not defined in the measure, such as the hiring and firing of employees by the Chief. The Chief also stated that there was no public input about the measure and lacked transparency.

Election results

St. Louis City Police Question
Result		Votes	Percentage
a Yes		75418	56.27%
No		58621	43.73%

Election results from St. Louis City Election Results Summary.

Lawsuit

The ACLU had filed a suit against the ballot language, but a Cole County judge rejected the challenge. The issue was against the proposed summary which often is all voters see of the proposed measure, the summary, the ACLU argued, would mask some of the more controversial aspects of the measure. The judge ruled that the ACLU did not meet the requirements of proving that the language was unfair.

On August 21, a Missouri appellate court upheld the previous decision, stating that the summary is fair and sufficient and will be allowed on the November ballot.

Path to the ballot

Originally there was proposed amendment to get a local control measure on to the ballot, but the St. Louis Police Officers' Association instead reached a compromise with the city Mayor and the group A Safer Missouri to put a local measure on the November ballot.

Additional reading

• St. Louis Today, "Aldermen want St. Louis citizens to vote on police control," July 6, 2010
• St Louis Public Radio, "Alderman wants voter referendum on local police control," July 5, 2010