A pre-filed bill that would recreate the Missouri Water Patrol already has a vocal opponent: Governor Jay Nixon.
He called the proposal a mistake and told reporters Tuesday that the decision to fold the old Water Patrol into the State Highway Patrol was the right move:
“When Colonel Johnston could bring anywhere in the state water rescue resources and get them there in a timely fashion, that unified command structure brings us all the assets of public safety from the Highway Patrol section in a unified way, and I think (it) is important," Nixon said.
The Highway Patrol-Water Patrol merger was passed six years ago following several proposals to shrink the size of state government during hard economic times.
Several critics blame the merger in part for the drowning of a man in 2014 who fell off a Highway Patrol boat while in custody.
