Crime Thread

stlhistory · PostJul 14, 2013#27512013-07-14T16:49+00:00

^Thanks, I'll take a look at that.

Another issue is that ESTL is probably not high on the priority list of anybody in the state government. Even if it weren't dysfunctional, the major groups in the legislature don't stand to gain from an alliance with ESTL. Chicago? Downstate rural? Downstate suburban?

In a similar vein, who (in IL government) really cared about the slow death of Cairo until it became a political football with Missouri over farmland?

leeharveyawesome · PostJul 15, 2013#27522013-07-15T13:59+00:00

It's also good news that "justice" has become a front and center issue in people's minds. Maybe that will be the end of the "no snitch" attitude.

threeonefour · PostJul 16, 2013#27532013-07-16T17:45+00:00

rawest1 wrote:I can't remember who said it here, but someone said their state gov. makes ours look like a well-oiled machine, and I tend to agree.

I don't think I was the one that said that- but I've thought that for years.

jem79c · PostJul 17, 2013#27542013-07-17T14:39+00:00

It's that time of year again! (And no, not Christmas in July.)
Another "Most Dangerous Cities" list was on MSN this morning:
http://money.msn.com/investing/americas ... ous-cities

We all know how the stats are skewed etc, but the fact that we are now number 4 is... encouraging? Maybe in a few years we will be out of the top 10 and the perception of St. Louis will start to heal... maybe.

Side note: don't read the comments section, it will make your eyes start to bleed.

Update - As if on que, things like this happen and make put my foot in my mouth:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 47130.html

stlhistory · PostJul 18, 2013#27552013-07-18T21:53+00:00

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 56bd7.html

First, some food for statistical thought in this season of rankings: Country Life Acres now has a murder rate of 1,428 per 100,000 residents.

Second, it's strange that in a one-street village of only 30 homes, one of the village trustees didn't know the guy who owned the house diagonal to his.

"I wouldn't have known him if he drove by," Clark said.

Third, it reveals one of the smallest municipalities in the county, hiding in plain sight. 70 people? 30 houses? One street? Seriously? This is a municipality?

Fourth, I street-viewed CLA, and it's actually gated. The town itself is gated. Kind of medieval in a way.

Presbyterian · PostJul 18, 2013#27562013-07-18T22:06+00:00

stlhistory wrote:First, some food for statistical thought in this season of rankings: Country Life Acres now has a murder rate of 1,428 per 100,000 residents.

I think Country Life Acres is close to Des Peres, which used to be really blighted.

dweebe · PostJul 18, 2013#27572013-07-18T22:10+00:00

stlhistory wrote:http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 56bd7.html

First, some food for statistical thought in this season of rankings: Country Life Acres now has a murder rate of 1,428 per 100,000 residents.

Second, it's strange that in a one-street village of only 30 homes, one of the village trustees didn't know the guy who owned the house diagonal to his.

"I wouldn't have known him if he drove by," Clark said.
Third, it reveals one of the smallest municipalities in the county, hiding in plain sight. 70 people? 30 houses? One street? Seriously? This is a municipality?

Fourth, I street-viewed CLA, and it's actually gated. The town itself is gated. Kind of medieval in a way.

Country Life Acres still isn't as bad as Champ, which has 13 residents.

juiceinkirkwood · PostJul 19, 2013#27582013-07-19T04:45+00:00

dweebe wrote:
stlhistory wrote:http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 56bd7.html

First, some food for statistical thought in this season of rankings: Country Life Acres now has a murder rate of 1,428 per 100,000 residents.

Second, it's strange that in a one-street village of only 30 homes, one of the village trustees didn't know the guy who owned the house diagonal to his.

"I wouldn't have known him if he drove by," Clark said.
Third, it reveals one of the smallest municipalities in the county, hiding in plain sight. 70 people? 30 houses? One street? Seriously? This is a municipality?

Fourth, I street-viewed CLA, and it's actually gated. The town itself is gated. Kind of medieval in a way.
Country Life Acres still isn't as bad as Champ, which has 13 residents.

I hear Champ is beautiful this time of year.

bonwich · PostJul 19, 2013#27592013-07-19T18:38+00:00

All you landmark buffs should be aware that Country Life Acres demolished a house about a 15 years ago that had belonged to Branch Rickey. It was still in great shape (I went to the estate sale) -- another very stupid local teardown.

P-D, 1996 wrote: Saturday, 8/3/1996

By Harry Levins\Of The Post-Dispatch Staff

The inside of Branch Rickey's mansion goes on sale today. Before long, the outside will be torn down.

The razing will eliminate one of St. Louis' last tangible connections with Rickey, the front-office baseball wizard who reshaped the sport. The two-story, 24-room, brick mansion is at 25 Country Life Acres, off Clayton Road in Country Life Acres. It was finished about 1913 for Rickey, whose career in St. Louis baseball began the year before, when the old Browns hired him as a scout.

From 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. today, Sunday and Monday, the mansion will be the site of an estate sale. Among the items on sale are the mansion's oak millwork and hand-hewn, 18-inch trusses.

The mansion sits on a 6-acre lot. After the razing, the lot will be subdivided into three 2-acre lots.

Exactly when Rickey sold the house is unclear. But it has had only two owners since.

The current owner, Emma Middleton, said that when she bought the mansion in 1980, "I had no idea of the history behind it."

She will move into one of the houses to be erected on the site. "I will still be living where Branch Rickey once farmed his land and dreamed his dreams, " she said.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to benefit a scholarship foundation that helps educate underprivileged children in Kenya. The children will be educated in the United States. Middleton is a former grammar school teacher.

Rickey left the Browns for the Cardinals in 1919. In his 24-year tenure as general manager of the Cardinals, he invented the farm-team system - and turned the Cardinals into perennial contenders.

In 1943, Rickey moved to the Brooklyn Dodgers for eight seasons. There, shortly after World War II, he signed Jackie Robinson to a contract as the first black in major league baseball.

Rickey ended his front-office career in 1955 as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He died on Dec. 9, 1965, in Columbia, Mo., where he had suffered a heart attack while being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He was 83.

rbb · PostJul 19, 2013#27602013-07-19T21:08+00:00

bonwich wrote:All you landmark buffs should be aware that Country Life Acres demolished a house about a 15 years ago that had belonged to Branch Rickey. It was still in great shape (I went to the estate sale) -- another very stupid local teardown.

P-D, 1996 wrote: Saturday, 8/3/1996

By Harry Levins\Of The Post-Dispatch Staff

The inside of Branch Rickey's mansion goes on sale today. Before long, the outside will be torn down.

The razing will eliminate one of St. Louis' last tangible connections with Rickey, the front-office baseball wizard who reshaped the sport. The two-story, 24-room, brick mansion is at 25 Country Life Acres, off Clayton Road in Country Life Acres. It was finished about 1913 for Rickey, whose career in St. Louis baseball began the year before, when the old Browns hired him as a scout.

From 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. today, Sunday and Monday, the mansion will be the site of an estate sale. Among the items on sale are the mansion's oak millwork and hand-hewn, 18-inch trusses.

The mansion sits on a 6-acre lot. After the razing, the lot will be subdivided into three 2-acre lots.

Exactly when Rickey sold the house is unclear. But it has had only two owners since.

The current owner, Emma Middleton, said that when she bought the mansion in 1980, "I had no idea of the history behind it."

She will move into one of the houses to be erected on the site. "I will still be living where Branch Rickey once farmed his land and dreamed his dreams, " she said.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to benefit a scholarship foundation that helps educate underprivileged children in Kenya. The children will be educated in the United States. Middleton is a former grammar school teacher.

Rickey left the Browns for the Cardinals in 1919. In his 24-year tenure as general manager of the Cardinals, he invented the farm-team system - and turned the Cardinals into perennial contenders.

In 1943, Rickey moved to the Brooklyn Dodgers for eight seasons. There, shortly after World War II, he signed Jackie Robinson to a contract as the first black in major league baseball.

Rickey ended his front-office career in 1955 as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He died on Dec. 9, 1965, in Columbia, Mo., where he had suffered a heart attack while being inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. He was 83.

Wow, bonwich:

Yeah, lots of that going on in that general area. Several architecturally meritorious or historically significant homes have been razed in the relatively recent past for, IMO, rather gaudy new construction. Wonder if anyone had considered subdividing the lot but leaving the original home...

-RBB

stlhistory · PostJul 20, 2013#27612013-07-20T18:56+00:00

^It's a sad story that bears repeating: the wealthy move out, and the poor move in and subdivide the houses and the land and bring crime along with them. Country Life Acres just isn't what it used to be. I've heard the city has had great success with something called "Schoemehl Pots" in keeping out the riff raff. Big black metal gates just aren't enough. Maybe it's time for CLA to invest in them and crack down on the criminal elements.

[/sarcasm]

leeharveyawesome · PostJul 20, 2013#27622013-07-20T20:24+00:00

I was thinking we could remove the Schoemehl pots from the streets and re-use them as barriers to prevent smash and grabs at places that sell big screen TVs and hair extensions.

[possibly sarcasm]

stlhistory · PostJul 24, 2013#27632013-07-24T21:59+00:00

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... b16a8.html

This story is getting strange. The family of the 9-year-old boy who was killed is being targeted, but family says they don't know why.

Police are checking for connections between the incidents, but family members say they don't understand why they would be targeted.

"We don't know where this is coming from," said Sherritha Short, who lives in the home in the 1800 block of Switzer Avenue. "We have no enemies. We have nothing but love coming from here. We are praying for understanding."

On an another crime note, the man killed near the Bevo Mill the other night (John Paulsen) was apparently an upstanding member of the community. It reminds me of the Megan Boken killing (non-gangbanging and high-profile victim), other than that Paulsen was killed at 3:30 a.m. after coming home from work.

Very depressing read on the Paulsen killing:
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyr ... micide.php

gone corporate · PostJul 25, 2013#27642013-07-25T18:29+00:00

^My sister was friends with John Paulsen. She ran into him Saturday evening after not having seen him in a couple years. They caught up briefly and planned to meet up & catch up with each other in the next couple days. That night, he was shot in the chest in front of his house while lowering the roof of his convertible. He was a good man who is dead because of totally random street crime. I hope his killer is caught and put in a dark hole, never to see the sun again.

tbspqr · PostJul 27, 2013#27652013-07-27T01:42+00:00

Chief Sam Dotson wants to use drones to fight crime
By Mike Rush

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson has taken the first step in getting a drone, writing to the FAA for approval. He hopes if approved in a year or so we could be seeing them flying through our skies.

They look like beefed up remote control helicopters, they're called unmanned aerial observation platform, but most of us know them as drones and police chief Sam Dotson wants one.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/385622 ... ight-crime

juiceinkirkwood · PostJul 27, 2013#27662013-07-27T02:26+00:00

tbspqr wrote:Chief Sam Dotson wants to use drones to fight crime
By Mike Rush

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson has taken the first step in getting a drone, writing to the FAA for approval. He hopes if approved in a year or so we could be seeing them flying through our skies.

They look like beefed up remote control helicopters, they're called unmanned aerial observation platform, but most of us know them as drones and police chief Sam Dotson wants one.
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/385622 ... ight-crime

Hopefully the ACLU can successfully fight these.

roger wyoming II · PostJul 27, 2013#27672013-07-27T02:51+00:00

^ I've got mixed feelings on that.... if its simply an alternative to putting up an helicopter to spot criminals then I'm all for it. If its more than that then that could be a problem.

juiceinkirkwood · PostJul 28, 2013#27682013-07-28T19:13+00:00

I'm not on the fence about it at all. I am 100% against it. It bears repeating that saying you've heard a thousand times over the past couple of years, "those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither." I don't want to make a cop in the city angry and start getting spied on. Oh, I know, tea party, conservative nut, right winged conspiracy theorist, blah blah blah, whatever. It's like people forget that regular human beings are the people behind these programs. I would suggest anyone who is in favor of this to follow the Twitter accounts/Facebook accounts of CopBlock, or spend all night watching videos of police brutality and violations of the 1st, 2nd, and 4th amendments.

onecity · PostJul 28, 2013#27692013-07-28T21:10+00:00

Are murders really down 22 yoy? According to RFT's Big Bloody blog, it would appear so. At this rate, we're aiming for 77 homicides for the year, or about 24/100k. How much of this is the result of the big federal operation? I wonder how much of this is long term trend and how much is a blip - things certainly have cooled down since the early 90s.

Alex Ihnen · PostJul 29, 2013#27702013-07-29T01:48+00:00

We were at 49 mid-year:

Compared to:

juiceinkirkwood · PostJul 29, 2013#27712013-07-29T12:42+00:00

Looks like the "knockout game" has made it to Cleveland. Texas Rangers pitcher randomly attacked downtown.
http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2013/07/2 ... cleveland/

threeonefour · PostJul 29, 2013#27722013-07-29T16:00+00:00

So the knockout game has been copied elsewhere? That's just great.

As for the chart, unless I've missed something, there have been seven fewer homicides compared to 2012 (through June). I know a couple of incidents were murder-suicides, but still, if this is how we measure progress, that's sad.

The murder of John Paulsen in Bevo is particularly disturbing. Like the death of Megan Boken, here's another seemingly random attack. The only apparent difference in this case is that no robbery was attempted. This is not the south St. Louis I knew all my life- it's not even the south St. Louis I knew ten years ago when I moved here from the suburbs.

Don't get me wrong, I still feel safe wherever I go, and I realize crime is down overall, but I'm still sickened by the amount of crime I see in and around my area these days. Anecdotally, I feel like my neighborhood is much worse than when I moved into my home eight years ago and into south St. Louis eleven years ago. Perhaps since my home was burglarized in April and shots were fired across the street in May, all of this has clouded my usually optimistic perspective a bit.

urban_dilettante · PostJul 29, 2013#27732013-07-29T16:30+00:00

threeonefour wrote:So the knockout game has been copied elsewhere? That's just great.

i don't think the KO game started in STL, and i'm pretty sure it's been going on in other cities too.

DogtownBnR · PostJul 29, 2013#27742013-07-29T16:41+00:00

I would have to think that more and more business are going to have to consider barriers to prevent the smash and grab crimes that are spiking in the City. The front and back of stores will need to be protected:

http://stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot. ... -grab.html

These are less "attractive" (if any barrier is considered attractive) than the poles.

http://www.belson.com/jbse.htm

Both will do the job. Store owners will need to weigh the cost, versus paying high insurance rates and deductables. This type of theft looks like it is here to stay and cameras will not help, if the vehicle is stolen and the perps are not visible..night... hoodies.. etc...

onecity · PostJul 29, 2013#27752013-07-29T16:47+00:00

Dogtown - That is the worst thing business owners can do. If the goal is to make areas look unsafe, barriers will do a spectatacular job. Try selling the people you want in your neighborhood on a neighborhood that's all barricaded...

Re 314's comments, I've heard anecdotally that STL, even south city, is full of absentee landlorded properties, and that there is a strong trend of these absentee property owners to take section 8 money, milk $10k derelict properties/not invest in them or the neighborhood, etc rather than doing normal rentals. I assume that this transition has happened in certain neighborhoods as the older residents die off? My question is, is this true and to what degree? And if so, does the city have any power to limit the concentration of section 8 so as to make it a lot harder for concentrated poverty ghettos to form? For example if you're a landlord and there are two noncontiguous section 8 residences on your block, can the city make it so that your block cannot accept any more section 8 or something like that? We all know the link between crime and concentrated poverty, so it seems like a real no brainer to pursue those types of policies. Thoughts?

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