St. Louis, MO (April 22, 2015) – Today Better Together released the third 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 the widely differing resources provided by police departments. Additionally, the study uses agency-provided data to examine the dispatches handling calls for each department, as well as the mutual aid agreements between the various departments.
Better Together assembled a table of equipment issued by each police department, the entirety of which can be viewed in our full report.
“This data reveals significant disparity in what resources are provided to police officers,” said Nancy Rice, Executive Director of Better Together. “Departments vary greatly in their ability to keep their officers safe and well-equipped.”
Data shows that some departments provide everything from body armor to service weapons to radios to winter caps. Other departments provide nothing more than a badge and an identification card. Still others issue body armor only “when funds are available.”
The fragmented nature of St. Louis City and St. Louis County also impacts dispatch. Twenty-one separate dispatches handle calls for service for the 60 police departments in the St. Louis County region. Several departments have their own dispatch while St. Louis County dispatches for 23 departments and several other regional or municipal dispatches handle calls from neighboring municipalities. Based on information directly from the agencies, Better Together compiled a table showing the dispatches for each police department in the St. Louis City and County region, which is viewable in our full report.
Differences also exist in the use of mutual aid agreements among departments. Chapter 70 of the Missouri Revised Statutes allows counties and municipalities to enter into mutual aid agreements during an emergency and also permits officers in compliance with Chapter 590 RSMo to respond to emergencies outside the boundaries of the political subdivision.
Additionally, St. Louis County and municipalities therein have established the “Code 1000 Plan.” This “is an administrative and operational law enforcement mutual aid contingency plan, which coordinates the commitment and deployment of police resources within the geographic limits of St. Louis County” during any time that law enforcement authorities “have insufficient personnel, equipment or special expertise to maintain law and order during an ongoing crisis.”
Data in our full report shows that mutual aid plans vary among the 60 departments in St. Louis City and St. Louis County. Some departments provided no public records pertaining to additional mutual aid agreements beyond those at the state or county level.
To read the full report, visit www.bettertogetherstl.com/police-study .