Entire Police Department Resigns in North St. Louis County

Alas, they’ve already found another department to police the two affected towns

Mar 15, 2024 at 4:21 pm

Oscar Hancock and Luke Christien with Quick-Keys LLC inspect the locks to the Velda City Police Department on March 15, 2024, as a police officer looks on. The entire department resigned this afternoon. ZACHARY LINHARES

The entire police department responsible for the safety of two north county municipalities has resigned, according to a post made this afternoon by the Velda City Police Department.

That police department only had three officers. But still.

"Be advised that as of 2 p.m. today (Friday, March 15, 2024), Velda City and Flordell Hills will no longer have police services," begins the post, which isn't signed but does go on for 24 more paragraphs chock-full of the very specific type of bad blood and recriminations that seem to go hand in hand with small municipality politics. (Velda City and Flordell Hills have a combined population of about 2,000 people.)

According to the post, financial hardships forced Velda City to contract their policing to an outside entity. Three separate agencies threw their hat into the ring: Pagedale Police, Hillsdale Police and an unnamed third department.

Hillsdale’s proposal would have allowed current police personnel to keep their jobs, and that was where things seemed to be headed. Then, the post claims, Velda City Mayor Gwendolyn Buggs "spoke or met in secrecy and conspired" to scuttle the deal – and ultimately she did.

The three officers comprising the Velda City Police Department subsequently resigned.

"In closing, residents should know the truth," the post says. "For the last several months, the department has only had three officers on the street. Not three officers per shift, three officers total for the department that wanted accountability and transparency failed to assume the accountability to properly staff a police department."

Whoever posted the message to the police department page says that they assume the St. Louis County Police Department will be handling any calls from Velda City and Flordell Hills.

However, a St. Louis County Police spokesperson says it will in fact be Pagedale Police handling calls for the two municipalities.