St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department diverted $3 million out of a budget allocated for building repairs, including using $250,000 for Tasers, then complained of needing more money to repair their buildings, according to a new report.
Department chiefs said Tuesday that more than two dozen police facilities were in need of repair and gave a tour to journalists, showing off severe water damage, broken appliances and decaying stone walls.
Police Chief Robert Tracy and Board of Police Commissioners President Chris Saracino introduced plans to hire a contractor to calculate building repair costs. “It’s important for all of us to understand that facility maintenance is a real and measurable cost of operating a modern police department,” Saracino said.
SLMPD has had $16.4 million put in its budget to pay for internal support services, including equipment and facilities, according to KSDK.
The outlet reports that back in January, the board voted unanimously to move just over $3 million out of the fund. This paid one million dollars to pay for officer overtime, $750,000 to worker compensation settlements and $650,000 to legal costs.
An extra $250,000 was spent to buy 320 new Tasers, financial documents showed. Nothing was put aside for building repairs.
“Properly maintained buildings help ensure officers can focus on their mission and also their main mission, protecting the public,” Chief Tracy said Tuesday. “Responsible funding helps us maintain these facilities proactively, rather than waiting until problems become more costly.”
The chiefs could not provide a specific number needed to fully cover the repairs, but proposed $25 million as a placeholder.
“We don’t think, based upon what we are seeing right now, that that would suffice, but we will see,” Saracino said, per KSDK.
SLMPD has already proposed a $250 million budget for the 2027 fiscal year, an increase of almost $50 million, which has been criticized by other city authorities, including Mayor Cara Spencer.
“It will require cuts to city departments across the board, no doubt,” Spencer said Tuesday. “It wouldn’t just impact our ability to address the most critical needs in our city buildings, it would require massive layoffs.”
The Independent has contacted the St Louis Police Metropolitan Department for comment on the issue.
