Federal agents have disrupted a plot to assassinate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate dozens of black students in Tennessee, the ATF said Monday. Continue Reading

Wednesday is National Day Against Police Brutality. A local rally will be held at 4:00 p.m. at Poelker Park, across from City Hall at Tucker and Market. The “Tow Local Control BACK to St. Louis!” rally will be sponsored by the Coalition Against Police Crime & Repression. Participants are encouraged to wear all black.

Local control of the police department is an issue PubDef.net has covered for years.

In a 2006 interview with PubDef, Alderman Terry Kennedy said without local control the police department is similar to an “occupying force.”

In February, state and city officials came together to support a bill to return control of the police department to the city. The bill passed the committee, but never reached the floor of the House for a vote.

Earlier this year, even Mayor Francis Slay — who has for years opposed local control — came out in favor of the bill — although he has not done much of anything to move the issue forward since then.

Another night, another senseless shooting in St. Louis. So far this year, more that 140 people have been killed — and hundreds more have been wounded. Few of these acts of violence are ever solved. Continue Reading

Corruption and mismanagement in the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has finally made it to the front page and, apparently, the front burner. The governor, who under an archaic remnant from the Civil War is responsible for city’s police department and appoints the commissioners who are supposed to provide oversight, has suddenly noticed things aren’t exactly going OK.

His response? Demand the Democratic State Auditor look into it.

The press release:

JEFFERSON CITY— Gov. Matt Blunt is requesting that State Auditor Susan Montee conduct a full and comprehensive audit of the St. Louis Police Department amidst disturbing reports that hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars are missing due to what appears to be an inappropriate relationship between the department and Metropolitan Towing. State Auditor Montee said she would look at the towing issue but Gov. Blunt said today the Auditor should go much further.

“I commend State Auditor Montee for quickly agreeing to examine the accounts related to this most recent discovery,” Gov. Blunt said. “Today, I am asking her to perform a full and comprehensive audit of every account of the St. Louis Police Department. At this point we have no confidence that the accounting problems at the St. Louis Police Department do not go beyond hundreds of thousands of missing taxpayer dollars so a full and comprehensive audit is in the best interest of taxpayers.”

Gov. Blunt is also asking the St. Louis Police Board to continue investigating the matter.

“I expect the St. Louis Police Board to continue to investigate all misdeeds, take steps to ensure this never happens again and do whatever is necessary to recover the missing money for taxpayers,” Gov. Blunt said. “Police business should be conducted appropriately, ethically and legally.”

Gov. Blunt has authority under Section 26.060 RSMo to request an audit at any time of any department, office, commission, board, bureau, institution, any subdivision of the state, road districts, school districts, townships, municipalities or counties.

While the St. Louis Police Department is basically controlled by the state government, the tab to operate the largest police force in the state is paid by the taxpayers of the City of St. Louis alone.

In fact, almost 50 cent of every dollar city residents pay in taxes goes to the police department. Yet they have almost no say at all in how it operates.