Better Security For The Comptroller, President

Two top City officials - aldermanic president Lewis Reed and comptroller Darlene Green - will be guarded (when necessary) by deputies of St. Louis sheriff Jim Murphy, if the St. Louis Board of Aldermen approves the expenditure.

I believe aldermen should (and will) do so. Both Comptroller Green and President Reed have said that they have received threats in the past and would welcome the security, especially when they were not in their City Hall offices. In the post-Kirkwood era of municipal government, it is probably better to be prudent.

In the interim, I have asked Tim Embree of my staff and City Marshall Ronald Hill, whose deputies already provide protective services to judicial officers and to City Hall, to discuss security with the staffs of Comptroller Green and President Reed.