Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that grants Saint Louis local authority over its municipal police department after July 1, 2012.

Highlights:

• Specifies a $2500 fine for each offense and a disqualification for holding public office for any state official who interferes with a municipal police department (Sec. A).

• Specifies that a city may establish a municipal police force for the purposes of (Sec. A):
• Preserving peace, public welfare, and order;
• Preventing crime and arresting suspected offenders;
• Enforcing the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city;
• Exercising all powers available to a police force under a generally applicable state law; and
• Regulating all private watchmen, private detectives, and private policeman serving or acting in the city.

• Establishes procedures for the transference from a state government commission to a local government commission (Sec. A).

• Specifies that all commissioned or civilian personnel hired before the date of transference must retain their employment (without reduction in salary, benefits, or rank) by the newly established commission (Sec. A).

• Specifies that those personnel who retired before the establishment of a municipal police force are entitled to all pension benefits they received before the date of transference (Sec. A).

Full Bill Text