ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – On Monday, the city of St. Louis won’t look much different to residents, but there are some changes coming to the police districts the city is divided into.
The St. Louis Police Department announced it’s redistricting the city from nine police districts to six. The department is making the change because of a decreased number of residents and a smaller police force since the districts were established 50 years ago.
Half a century ago, the city’s population was around 750,000and there were more than 2,200 police officers on the streets. Now the city’s population is less than half of that and the department is finding new ways to better utilize its resources.
“Reducing the number of police districts will allow the department to consolidate command structures, put more officers on the street and deploy resources in areas that need it most. Implementing six districts will also allow more officers to focus on hot-spot policing,” said Chief Sam Dotson.
Under the new plan, Districts 1 and 2, will work out South Patrol, Districts 3 and 4 out of Central Patroland Districts 5 and 6 will work out of North Patrol.
The plan goes into affect at 4:00am Monday.
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