Community Corner
Dozens Of Vacant SLMPD Positions Cut From City Budget
Dozens of vacant St. Louis police officer positions were eliminated under the Fiscal Year 22 budget.
April 29, 2021
Dozens of vacant St. Louis police officer positions were eliminated under the Fiscal Year 22 budget. Passed Thursday morning, the budget eliminated 98 vacant positions, leaving over 50 remaining vacancies. No current city police officers will lose their jobs. For years, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has been short officers and now a new administration could see those vacant positions cut for good. “Budgets are moral documents, and previous budgets do not reflect either the shared values or the emerging needs of the most vulnerable St. Louisans. For many years the budget has not supported the needs of the people and that’s why we’re seeing record numbers of homicides and other acts of violence. What we’ve been doing doesn’t work. This revised budget will start St. Louis on a new path to tackling some of the root causes of crime,” said Mayor Tishaura Jones.
