ST. LOUIS—Police here are hailing new statistics showing the second lowest number of homicides on record for a first quarter dating back to 1990, and an overall reduction in all crime of almost 30% year over year.

The data comes as the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is in the process of being taken over by a state-appointed citizens board that includes the St. Louis mayor. In less than a week, city voters will decide whether to re-elect incumbent Tishaura Jones, or if alderwoman Cara Spencer, who scored a decisive win in last month’s primary, will be mayor for the next four years. 

Last week, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 495, ending local control that was approved by voters in 2012. He now has roughly three weeks to name a transition director for the department and less than 90 days to nominate board members who need to be approved by the state senate. The full transition will happen no later than July 1, 2026.

Kehoe said after the signing that his message to SLMPD was to keep doing what’s being done. Tracy reiterated Wednesday that that was the plan.

“I want to assure everyone, we’re going to continue to do the things that we’re doing,” he said, praising Jones’ support. “If you have progress like this, you want to make sure that the type of progress that’s been happening under the mayor’s administration, you kind of want to make sure that you can help keep going in that direction.”

“When it comes to policing in this city, we’re gonna continue to do things we’re doing right now. And if we need to do other things, we’re gonna build off it, we’re very flexible,” he added.

Jones said Wednesday the city was still reviewing the possibility of a legal challenge to the law, which requires the city to spend 22% of its budget on police this year, stepping up to 25% by Jan. 1, 2028. The Jones administration has said that could mean as much as $40 million more. The law does not include additional state funding for the department.

Spencer, who could not be reached for comment, has opposed state control. She has run on a platform promoting better recruitment efforts to fill vacant public safety positions and to focus on attracting a more diverse force. If she wins next Tuesday’s election, it won’t be something she alone can mandate as administration policy. She’ll have to convince other board members.

“We didn’t ask for this,” Jones said of state control. “We’ve already done the hard work in bringing down crime by significant numbers across all categories and I’m hopeful that this new board, whoever they are, recognizes the hard work and also continues our existing partnerships,” she said, including the Save Lives Now regional effort to cut homicides and shootings.

In the meantime, Tracy confirmed work is already underway to figure out how the transition to state control will work, factoring in everything from how the department will be legally represented by the attorney general’s office, to who will be responsible for employing non-policing positions, like the mechanics who keep the SLMPD fleet on the street.