JEFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri State Highway Patrol is turning down a request for its troopers to help police in downtown St. Louis.
Patrol Col. Ron Replogle said Monday that his agency doesn't have the funding to use its officers to help patrol the city streets.
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson had asked the patrol for 10-12 officers who could work alongside city police as part of a response to a recent increase in violent crime.
Replogle told members of the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee that he looked at the possibility of providing eight officers to work from now through summer. But he decided against it because of finances.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Kurt Schaefer said St. Louis police need to figure out their own solution to local crime problems.