By Antonio D. French
Filed Wednesday, December 20, 2006 at 9:06 AM
Mayor Francis Slay's statement on recently released statistics showing violent crime on the increase in the city...
Totals and trends are two things to look at in the annual crime reports. Neither dynamic has much good news for City residents in 2006. There were too many crimes reported in 2006 – and the trend in reports for some violent crimes in the first half of the year was upward.
Chief Joe Mokwa doesn’t make a lot of excuses about that. He notes that bad schools, a sluggish economy, and some practices in other parts of the criminal justice system are among the causes of some sorts of crime. And he notes, correctly, that most City neighborhoods are safe places and that St. Louis’s crime numbers are generally in line with other cities our size. But, the chief knows that, whatever the causes of crime or the City’s relative ranking in the surveys, his department’s most important job is to arrest the bad guys wherever they are.
Thanks to City voters, there will be more police officers out on our streets next year. And the chief has already announced plans to concentrate his forces in the six most dangerous City neighborhoods and against the most dangerous repeat offenders. That should mean fewer bad guys on the streets of fewer neighborhoods next year – and better totals and trends.
10 Comments:
Its good to hear that our City is on the way to addressing its crime problem. Wait, hasn't every previous Mayor basically said the same thing? Will we actually see a policy shift or is this the same old message? Will anyone outline historical crime rates for the past say 20 years and correlate them to each Administrations policies?
12/20/2006 10:11 AM
What administration policies? I think you're missing the point here, Doug. The Mayor nor any other elected official controls our crime policy. We have NO INPUT in how our city addresses crime! The Mayor is but one vote on an otherwise state-appointed Board of Police Commissioners!!!
12/20/2006 10:23 AM
Antonio, I understand that we have really no control as the Mayor is but one vote. What I am saying is what action, or 'defacto-policy,' have previous Mayors taken, or promised? I am trying to gauge the level of BS coming from our current Administration as it compares to previous ones. Local Control is really the only solution and I am wondering what previously has been done regarding policing in St. Louis. Did any past Mayors want local control, or another policy, and what were their effect upon crime rates?
12/20/2006 10:32 AM
I think we should remember that, though there are a myriad of problems with the organization of the police department in St. Louis, violent crime is up nearly 10% nation-wide.
There is still a lot that could be done in our city to make it safer, for sure. But we must take into account the systemic problems we have as a country: The growing gap between rich and poor and the erosion of the middle class, the failing war on drugs, and inherint racism and opprestion that still plague not just St. Louis, but the country at large.
12/20/2006 11:36 AM
Slay, Rainford and Mokwa are making a political mistake by constantly fighting this "most dangerous" label. Is St. Louis the MOST dangerous place in America? Probably not. But for many of its residents and visitors, the fact is that the city is dangerous.
The more the mayor and the police chief try to fight that perception -- and now the FBI's statistics -- the more they sound like the ones that "doesn't know anthing about crime" in their own city.
Focus on fixing the problem, not denying that there is a problem.
12/20/2006 12:50 PM
Those "practices in other parts of the criminal justice system" must include the prosecutors not having the resources they need because Jim Shrewsbury cut their budget!
12/20/2006 3:03 PM
well they need to come up with some better Ideas than that (pull me over if you think my car was stolen)program.
I think one of the biggest problems is that most cops dont care who lives in the neghbor hood.
I have 7-11 police sub station a block from my house. The cops their have no interest in making small talk or helping people out.
Now I dont know what the regulations are for reporting crimes but my apartment door was broken in and my T.V. was stolen. I know Im am not getting my stuff back and they wont ketch they people that kicked in my door, but I want it documented so my land lord dosen't come after me to pay for the door. Insted of calling 911 I thought it would be easyer to just tell the cop at the 7-11.
He says: "call 911."
I said: "I thought you were 911"
He said: "Don't be smart, call 911."
WTF?
Is this the aditude all over the city?
12/20/2006 3:04 PM
Adding more police and arresting more folks accused of crimes will put a huge burden on the criminal justice system. The Missouri State Public Defender System is currently operating in crisis mode because the state has not provided a single new FTE since 2000 while the number of cases handled by the MSPD has increased by 30%. An Assistant Public Defender in the city currently has a caseload of approximately 150 cases at any time. The Public Defender is the only Constitutionally mandated department of the goverment because of our belief in a fair and just system; yet, if APDs are working in crisis mode then the chance of mistakes increases and the system slows down. If the system slows down then people spend a great deal of more time in one of the two city jails costing the city an enormous amount of money. Currently it takes a case about 2 years from the time of arrest to go to tial. The Public Defender is constitutionally mandated and needs to be included in the equation. As another comment correctly points out, the Circuit Attorney's Office is also understaffed. How will the criminal justice system absorb this increase in arrests without addressing the system as a whole.
12/20/2006 3:41 PM
Joe says: that bad schools, a sluggish economy, and some practices in other parts of the criminal justice system are among the causes of some sorts of crime.
What kind of bullshit statement is that???
practices in other parts of the criminal justice system are among the causes of some sorts of crime.
WTF does this mean????
I think it's time for the state to step in and take full control of the police dept. and the mayors office!!!
12/20/2006 5:04 PM
Put the blame where it's due:
Maybe people could start raising their kids right and they wouldn't turn out to be thugs.
Or, maybe thugs could stop being pieces of human trash and quit committing crimes.
Sounds too easy? It is. But it's a step in the right direction: blaming the people at fault, not people (like the Mayor or Shrewsbury or the Police) who you happen to dislike.
12/21/2006 12:35 AM
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