St. Louis, MO (April 15, 2015) – Today Better Together released the second in a series of reports that will provide information on how police service is provided throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and the 90 municipalities therein. This study looks at hiring and training standards in St. Louis’s 60 police departments as well as departmental accreditation.
While the State of Missouri regulates the minimum requirements for licensure as an officer, data received from the police departments in the region revealed a range of requirements for being hired. Specifically, while some officers may have only received 600 hours of training others enter the police force having received nearly 1,000 hours of training.
Furthermore, a review of protocols provided by the departments revealed varying requirements for being hired as a police officer. Some departments conduct psychological health screening, while others do not. Similarly, some departments require an Associate’s Degree while others require a high school diploma or its equivalency.
The lack of standardization across the 60 police departments providing service to St. Louis City and County reflect the absence of any state accreditation or formal licensing process. While many departments pursue accreditation through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and the Missouri Police Chiefs Charitable Foundation (MPCCF), 75 percent of the police departments in St. Louis City and County are not accredited.
“Accreditation is not a panacea for departments,” said Nancy Rice, executive director of Better Together. “The standards for accreditation require the implementation of official written policies, but do not specifically dictate what those policies must be. However, the practice of discussing and implementing policies under this process has been shown to reduce risk and improve performance as indicated by reduced insurance costs. ”
Of the 15 accredited departments, 10 have international accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). These are: Chesterfield, Clayton, Creve Coeur, Florissant, Maplewood, Richmond Heights, Shrewsbury, St. Louis County, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, and Webster Groves. Four police departments in St. Louis County are fully accredited through the Missouri Police Chiefs Charitable Foundation (MPCCF): Bellefontaine Neighbors, Maryland Heights, Olivette, and St. John. (The fifth, Normandy, is currently certified on a one-year review as the department recently updated several policies that will be further reviewed after full implementation.)
Eleven municipal departments in St. Louis County are in one of the phases of the accreditation process, with the majority in the preliminary stages. Those departments include Ballwin, Bridgeton, Ellisville, Eureka, Ferguson (status on hold), Manchester, Overland, Rock Hill (status on hold), St. Ann, Town & Country, and Vinita Park.
To read the full report, visit www.bettertogetherstl.com/police-study .
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