By Matt Sepic, KWMU
St. Louis – The St. Louis Police Department will lose only five officers next fiscal year.
Originally, 47 positions were to have been eliminated by attrition.
But Mayor Francis Slay says the city's Board of Estimate and Apportionment has found more than a million dollars to keep the staff.
Police Chief Joe Mokwa says he'll now be able to restore the Most Violent Offenders program.
"Last year the Most Violent Offenders [unit] arrested about 175 people, seized all kinds of drugs and guns, and do that every night," Mokwa said. "And the anti-crime team, which is also going to be up at full strength, arrested 800 people for driving stolen cars last year."
More than a quarter of the funding will come from a federal grant. The rest is from general revenue and cost shifting within the police department.
The five un-budgeted positions will be eliminated through attrition. The plan now moves to the Board of Aldermen.