The Easing of the St. Louis Police Residency Requirement
In the nearly 15 years I’ve lived in St. Louis I have supported residency requirements for city employees and the St. Louis Police. I’ve met some great cops that enjoyed living in the city. Unfortunately, I’ve also met my share of officers that had a chip on their shoulder about the city. Granted, in their line of work they don’t exactly encounter the best the city has to offer. Here is the info on the new rule:
“Under the rule passed Friday, officers who leave the city will have to live within an hour from the patrol station where they work. That requirement was amended from an earlier proposal that said officers must live either in the city or St. Louis County. The goal presumably is to ensure that police are available quickly in an emergency. The commissioners did not specify how they would measure whether an officer’s residence is within 60 minutes of work.” Reported Jake Wagman of the Post-Dispatch;
“The Police Board voted 3-2 to allow officers with seven years of service to live outside the city limit, effective immediately. About three-fourths of 1,360 current officers are immediately eligible to move. New officers will have to complete training and a probationary period before their experience will count toward the seven years.”
It is because of the sometimes bad attitude that I am not so upset about this change. Let them move. Maybe they will approach the public with better attitudes? That when those of us that like the city complain about something they won’t give us lip about thats what we should expect in the city. If they move it certainly can’t make their attitudes any worse. Again, not all cops have bad attitudes. Just enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth.
I choose to live in the city because I love city living. I hope once these cops are not longer forced to live in the city they will open their eyes and choose to stay.
– Steve
I read that a fair number of the 3/4 already live in the county, but the funding was cut for the oversight committee that is supposed to keep track on where these police officers are living so nobody is checking. Anybody got proof to back this up or discredit this I would be more than welcome to hear it.
The other thing to think about is that there are many more employees (non cops) of the police department who are upset by this ruling because they still are required to live in the city. I agree that the city is a great place, but not by forcing employees to live here. The residency rule is still in place for those who are less than 7 years on the force, which makes this 8 years total since they dont count the probationary period.
The best thing is that this comes at the best time. Many people are wanting to move back to the city, gas prices are rising, and Hwy 40 is a parking lot from 7am to 7pm so let them move if they really want to.
Jason, I have an officer neighbor who mentioned that quite a number of officers already live in the county. Didn’t know about the oversite committee though.
When I asked my neighbor if he was planning on moving, he had no plan too. As a matter of fact, he is busy developing properties in the city (and doing a great job of them), so he has vested interest in staying around.
Well, like you said Steve, hopefully the officers that have a bad taste for city life will find a bit more comfort in the county…and bring that new pleasant attitude back when they are on the job.
This is an issue that has been a sticking point for many people for a long time. There is much that could be discussed on it.
Re. Jason’s question, while I doubt this information will be made public, look for an onslaught of change of address forms to hit in the next one to two months from officers that have been living out of the city on the sly.
My greatest concern about this issue is the overall divisiveness of it. It has basically been a 30 year negative campaign against city living. The police have cited the poor public schools, an antiquated housing stock, and crime as their main reasons not to be held to a residency requirement. These same arguments could be made by any unhappy city resident, city employee or otherwise.
It is also very distressing that after nearly 150 years, the city of St. Louis still does not control its own police department. We pay for it, but we do not govern it. In a city that suffers from a various challenges to our identity, our independence, and from a dispersal of authority in its city government, here are more stark manifestations of those continuing challenges.
Our city leaders can make statements about their position on the issue, but they are powerless to do anything. And so we residents are powerless. This is a very unsatisfactory situation, leading to an overally sense of disenfranchisement among city residents.
Next, granting an end of the residency requirement to the vast majority of police officers creates a much larger morale problem. Now you have the civilian employees of the police department, the fire department, and the rest of the city departments all feeling like they are being treated unfairly, even though most of them probably understand the technical distinction between the state controlled police department and the local control of other city departments. They would still be frustrated by it. And so now the police are talking about a campaign to end the residency requirement for all city employees-namely “airport police, firefighters, even garbage collectors” (* in that order, as stated by one poster in CopTalk.)
For years there has been a sort of culture of cop worship in the city of St. Louis. While most police officers are great dedicated people, there are clearly many with a very bad attitude about the city. However, attend just about any neighborhood meeting, when the police come to answer questions about crime, the police are treated with an almost reverent regard. Sometimes, they can take up half a meeting reporting on crime issues and answering questions. (ed. comment: sometimes I’ve wondered: wouldn’t it be nice if they just had their own meeting???).
Anyway, now that the police have decided to distance themselves offically from city residents and elected officials, will they still enjoy the same level of reverent regard from city residents? Will the average city resident *trust* the average police officer as much? Will you feel as comfortable doing a “St. Louis stop” through one of our vacant, non-trafficed intersections with squad car cruising by a block away? Will our now “occupying force” feel as neighborly with the city residents they are charged to patrol once they are no longer indeed, our neighbors?
Will officers that move out put pressure on those that choose to stay, mocking them for making a stupid decision, “endangering their families”? More negative morale.
Chief Mokwa was recently quoted in the paper stated how he knew this issue had caused damage in the relationship between the police department and city residents. And that the police needed to work on repairing that damage.
Well, that sounds good, but how does it work?
“Yeah, we fought for thirty years for an end to the residency requirement because the city isn’t good enough for us to raise our families, but, we do *like* you. We really do like you!”
Somehow, that message just rings hollow.
And with them now pushing for an elimination of the residency requirement for other city employees, that strategy just seems to put them further at odds with elected officials and tax paying city residents.
Lastly, with this decision ultimately coming down at the hands of a republican controlled state legistlature, against the wishes of a heavily democratic city, well, that creates its own sense of ill-will, unfairness, and further disenfranchisement.
RB
Rick,
Have you written this as a letter to the editor? I think you have summed up the thoughts and fears of the average citizen regarding this issue. Very well said.
Dustin
At this stage, I don’t know what good a letter to the editor would do, other than to vent a sense of frustration, or create the appearance of being sore loser. Having already been the target of ridicule of the SLPD on Cop Talk, I’m not sure I want to go through that again.
Similar could be said about testifying in front of the police board. Clearly, this decision was made in advance.
Looking at unscientific polls of regional residents, it appears most of our 2.5 million or so area residents support the police on this issue. I suspect they would probably go on to support ending the residency requirement for all city workers, all out of a “the city is no place for anyone to be forced to raise a family” mentality.
So, we need to think about what this means for the future of the city. Moving forward, here are two issues that might possibly arise for discussion.
On the plus side, the city now is in a stronger position to begin serious discussions about regionalism. We have taken the first step of allowing our police to move anywhere within an hour of the city. We should begin to move more regional these to the front burner. Will our republican leaders consider partnering with the city on these initiatives?
Let’s look at sharing municipal services with St. Louis County. Forming a regional commission to own and operate the airport. Re-entry of the city into St. Louis County. If republicans want a hand in directing the future of the city, then let’s get them to start addressing these issues.
And if those things were to happen, and could be traced back to the first step of lessening the police residency requirement, then, those would be very positive things for the city.
The second issue has more of a down side. Does the change in residency for police officers increase the potential for a sense of loss in the level of loyalty and partnership between city police officers and city residents?
Police make it very clear that in order to be effective, they need the support of neighborhood residents.
However, now, they have chosen to remove themselves from the neighborhood side of that equation. I think that will lead to a sense of resentment on the part of some city residents toward police officers.
On that basis, Chief Mokwa will have his hands full in trying to overcome the damaged relationship between the police department and city residents.
RB
First, the police will get nothing done with the other employees in the city, bcause that would require a 60% vote of the people, and the officers who are pushing for their freedom won’t even be able to vote. It is in the charter, and we know how hard that is to change. I don’t even see them as carrying through at all with that idea, not even starting it. They got what they want, and they are happy. Hopefully, now they will become a little more respectful to the people that actually choose to live in this fair city. I was also a victim of their ridicule, while politely asking for some respect for the city. Apperently, at least one of them thinks Rick and I are gay, and looking for a house in the city to spread our pro-city ideas and trying to bring some culture to a dying ciy. Maybe they can get over their homophobia and racist attitudes, since they can move away from their perceived problems.
Also, showing some more ignorance, they don’t understand that school employees are not part of the city government, the school district is an independent government entity. They can do what they want when it comes to residency.
On a positive note, I have been told by reliable officers that many of the people on there are wannabe cops, not even on the force, and the board is not representative of the department as a whole. Basically, a lot of shit disturbers.
There is nothing to prove that the negative comments on CopTalk are not made by police officers. Given the years of negative comments I’ve heard police officers make IN PERSON, I don’t see why they expect us to believe that given the anonymity of the internet, they wouldn’t let their true feelings show.
CopTalk was just changed, as a result of residency threads bashing the city, to require use of a password to post.
Now police officers are whining that they’ve lost their “plausible deniablity” regarding negative posts made against the city.
The police have done nothing to demonstrate any good faith on this issue. They are paying lip service to city residents now that they have gotten their way.
In the meantime, those of us who have followed this issue for years have listened to their whining, knocking the city, ad nauseum to the point that, simply based on their constant negative commentary against the city (for a perfect example of this, consider Gary Wiegert, past president of the SLPOA, and talk show host at WGNU, where he and his callers bash the city on a weekly basis), have grown weary of the police department and their total self-serving approach to this issue.
The one word I hear used most often to describe police officers lately is “whiners”.
How can a city that has for years engaged in near worship of police officers, continue to do so, now that their ceaseless whining has led to a divorce between residents and police officers?
RB
I didn’t say that police officers weren’t saying those things, just that there are people on there only trying to stir the pot, and there are many officers that don’t feel that way, just as there are many that agree. This may be a case of an extremely vocal, sizable minority. I hope. The current president is an idiot too. He’s just mad he hasn’t been promoted higher.
I am sorry, I thought this was America, land of the FREE. Everyone should be able to live wherever we want, this type of law should be struck down as unconstitutional.
Nobody wants to live in the rat trap of a city. I have friends working at the airport and they are forced to live in the crime ridden city, the last time I visited one he had just had his car broken into and then I was swarmed by panhandlers at the gas station on my way out.
My question is do any cops WORK in the crime ridden city.
If Slay wants to improve the city it will not be done through limiting freedoms. Clean the damned place up and then people will WANT to live there.
but where is the money to clean up the city supposed to come from if no one is willing to live in the city? shall we raise/institute additional taxes in the county to pay for the city cleanup? i’m sure that would go over well…
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