CLAYTON, Mo.—St. Louis County Council chair Shalonda Webb pulled back a request to have legislation written Tuesday when that request set off alarm bells that suggested she wanted St. Louis County to take control of public safety across all of the county, including municipal areas.

The original request, dated Jan. 16 to County Counselor Dana Redwing, requested  “preparation of legislation to bring to a vote of County residents an amendment to the County Charter that would authorize the County Council to exercise legislative power pertaining to any and all public safety functions and services throughout the entire County, including within incorporated municipalities, in order to provide uniform public safety throughout the County,” her letter said in part.

The letter may have reminded some in the region of the failed attempt at a St. Louis-St. Louis County merger in 2018 that fell apart in 2019 after then-St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger was indicted for bribery and resigned.

“It was out of the blue, we had no communications prior to seeing it on the agenda yesterday for today’s meeting,” Pat Kelly, Executive Director of the Municipal League of Metro St. Louis told Spectrum News via email Tuesday afternoon. 

“The league would adamantly oppose any attempt be the county to control our oversee our member municipal police.”

Tuesday afternoon, Webb, a Democrat from North St. Louis County, released a statement trying to clarify the situation. 

“The county does not want to take over municipal police departments or their ability to be unique in decision making. However, I do believe it is fair that citizens expect a minimum standard for area policing. The ability to remove a gun from a minor should be the same in a municipality as it is in St. Louis County,” she said, referring to a recently passed county bill that bans minors from openly carrying firearms in unincorporated areas but by itself didn’t apply to any of the county’s more than 80 municipal governments.

But that statement had not reached several local police chiefs, who came to Tuesday afternoon’s County Council meeting to learn more about the situation and address the council.

“I think the mistakes that continue to be made is this idea that somehow or another, county government as a whole is in a better position to do these things rather than to bring municipal government, municipal law enforcement to the table,” said Florissant Chief Tim Fagan, Executive Director of the St. Louis Area Police Chiefs Association. “We’re more than willing to talk about any and all strategies that make our communities safer but certainly we need to be part of that conversation. And I think that’s the piece that continues to be missing from all of these conversations.”

Given a chance to see Webb’s statement from earlier in the day, Fagan said some municipalities in the county have restricted the open carrying of firearms by minors for several years.  

Webb addressed the issue in the meeting, re-reading her statement and reiterating that no legislation was yet drafted and that she wasn’t looking for a county takeover of local police.

“I take responsibility for the communication put forth and not clearly conveying my mission and the work I want to put forth,” she said. “I am committed to engage in meaningful dialogue with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, municipal leaders, municipal police chiefs, county police, police officers, organizations, my fellow peers on the council and the county exec and his office. If anything comes out of this collaboration the citizens of St.Louis will be put first.”

Fagan was unable to address the council because the meeting was forced into a recess by demonstrators calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The meeting will resume Friday afternoon.  

Any change to the county charter would have to come with approval from St. Louis County voters.