ST. LOUIS (KTRS) The City of St. Louis will waive the residency requirement for up to 50 new police recruits to attract more officer candidates. Beginning December 1, the Civil Service Commission will issue waivers to qualified new recruits living outside the city limits.

The Commission approved the change at Mayor Lyda Krewson’s request. In a statement, Mayor Krewson said, “Public Safety is my number one priority. We have been running two Police Academy classes at a time, we started a cadet program, we have advertised, but we are still down between 130 to
150 officers on any given day. This is an issue of public safety. Waiving the
residency requirement will help us broaden our recruiting efforts.”

For decades, the city of St. Louis has required all police officers and many city employees to live within the city limits.