St. Louis demonstrated a united front yesterday in the State Capitol as the political friends and foes spoke in unison in a call for local control of the city’s largest department, its police force.

Mayor Francis Slay, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, and 11 city aldermen from north and south St. Louis appeared before the House committee which heard testimony regarding House Bill 2117. Even some local activists who are working to remove Slay from office called a truce for the day and even praised Slay for his testimony in support of the legislation.

Here’s video from the press conference before the hearing. Check back later for more videos throughout the day.

St. Louis Leaders Call for Local Control of Police from pubdef on Vimeo.

The long fight of the City of St. Louis to regain control of its police department after a century of state rule will take center stage today at a hearing in the state capitol. And for the first time, St. Louis highest ranking officials will all testify in favor of the bill.

Mayor Francis Slay, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed, Comptroller Darlene Green, and as many as 11 of the city’s 28 aldermen are expected to drive to Jefferson City this morning to speak at the 2:00 hearing on House Bill 2117.

The bill, sponsored by State Representative T.D. El-Amin (D-St. Louis), will be heard before the House Special Committee on Urban Issues, which is chaired by another St. Louis representative, Rodney Hubbard*, who is also a bill co-sponsor.

The hearing will begin at 2:00 in House Hearing Room 5. A hearing was scheduled for last week, but was cancelled due to the snow storm.

PubDef.net will have cameras at the event. Check back later for video.

* Editor’s Note: Hubbard is a client of A D French & Associates

Due to weather, today’s hearing in the State Capitol on whether St. Louis City should control its own police department has been cancelled.

The weather in Jefferson City is sunny and nice, but several of inches of snow have already fallen on St. Louis and more is expected, keeping many aldermen and the mayor from trekking the Capitol to testify.

State Rep. T.D. El-Amin, who’s sponsoring House Bill 2117, says the hearing will be rescheduled soon.