Unfortunately, we are in the midst of quite disturbing numbers. Last year, there were a total of "only" 23 homicides during the entire 4 month period from Feb - May last year before things started to tick up the second half of the year. I'm not optimistic we'll see a "quiet" period like last year and we could well see another rise in homicides for '14.
(let's stop using that stuffy, antiquated, and paternalistic term alderman),
I, for one, hope we never stop using the term "alderman". It's one of the things that reminds me STL is more eastern than western; more Midwestern than southern.
"Alderperson", on the other hand, you can dump anytime...
I don't get it. 12? 13? On pace for...let's see...
13/27 = .48 per day X 365 = 175 murders in 2014?
What does that even mean? Probably 169 fewer gang members on the street? 20 or 30 killers running loose? Consolidation of gang power?
James Clark of Better Family Life was interviewed on the radio today or yesterday and put it this way...(in so many words):
"The mayor can't stop crime, the police chief can't stop crime, the pastors can't stop crime, only the guys shooting each other can stop crime by changing their behavior" (by "Put(ting) Down the Pistols" - the name of BFF anti-violence program). http://www.betterfamilylife.org/index.p ... ls-program
(If I'm not mistaken, in the same interview, Clark went on to say that "hot spot policing" doesn't work.)
Clark sees the killings as a neighborhood problem, a black-on-black problem, a lack of faith problem, a lack of self-worth problem, etc. All things the cops have very little control over.
So here we at UrbanSTL count murders on some sort of death ticker?
You do know that these bad guys even go out into the street and start firing their weapons right into police cars? (This according to some police officers I've spoken to.) The killers have no fear.
If the guy at Better Family Life said that, then he's defeated.
While part of what he may said (haven't verified) is true, policemen and women are hired to "protect and serve".
It is their sworn duty.
If there are too many guns and drugs on the streets of St. Louis, they have to find a way to address too many guns on the streets. Get help.
The problem, as I see it, is apathy. People pretend to care. As long as crime prevention cameras can be propped up in certain neighborhoods, "My little neighborhood" is okay. Meanwhile, crimes spreads. These idiots are literally shooting each other downtown. How stupid and brazen is that?
Nobody cares to address the problem with SERIOUS intervention and force because, "it's just those people over there". If there is no collective outcry by the citizens of St. Louis - REGARDLESS of race, creed, color or economic background - the city will be fighting a losing battle and tarnished image.
The police department will continue to understaffed, under-resourced, under-educated. St. Louis needs smart-policing and more boots on the ground, in cruisers and paddy-wagons. When you let these fools see that "we've had enough" only then will things change. Fix your schools of all kinds, add jobs, work with neighborhoods instead of against them.
They did more to crack down on mobsters, it seems, than they do these stupid street/drug gangs in North St. Louis and lower South St. Louis. And cracking down doesn't mean shooting a suspect 25 times. That's easy work.
I actually agree with NN on this. Unfortunately the issue runs much deeper than just stopping crime. The police and mayor are powerless against someone that doesn't have respect for life whether it be another's or their own.
I tire of the blame game. It is not the mayor's fault, the schools' fault, or the police department's fault. If you want to talk about socioeconomics, family life, or changing a culture of violence I'm all ears.
Don't get me wrong, I count and cringe at every at every report of a shooting. It hits me at the core for this issue to continue in the city I love.
^ I think policing is sort of like a baseball manager or NFL quarterback..... get too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go bad. I do think though that effective policing can make a difference, and I believe building trust in the community is a key component of that.... especially in a city like Saint Louis with limited resources.
Alderman Antonio French has made violent crime in St. Louis a big issue for his office. Yesterday he appeared on KMOX with talk show host Mark Reardon after the two had a bit of Twitter debate about crime .
French was essentially asserting that Reardon, and others, think crime is an isolated issue, seriously affecting some neighborhoods, but not others, so it's a localized problem, needing to be dealt with in those areas. French went on to suggest that Reardon and others taking his view have a sort of "blame the victim/neighborhood" mentality.
French argues crime is everyone's problem, no matter where you live. It hurts us all so we all need to be part of the solution. However, after the show, sounding frustrated, French sent out a tweet saying that sometimes it feels that some neighborhoods are just "on their own" when it comes to crime.
So here's the question. What do you suppose French thinks everyone else should be doing? Are there serious things the residents of generally (violent) crime free areas like Holly Hills and Princeton Heights can do to help reduce violent crime in places like College Hill and Fairground?
Such as what exactly? Unless real actions can be done, this feels more like a rhetorical dance than a serious conversation.
We've heard the charges about violent crime being everyone's problem, but are we hearing the strategies everyone should be doing to reduce it? Not so much.
Is French thinking:
Pay more tax to put more cops in the high crime areas? Fund more programs to take criminals out of high crime areas? Reform the school system? Change the marijuana laws? What should be done first? And are any of these things actions people of "other neighborhoods" can be doing?
Right now it just feels like a lot of finger pointing and empty rhetoric.
Is anyone else experiencing fatigue or just flat-out exhausted worrying about one small segment of society's ongoing, generational, never-ending issues?
I used to allow these acts of destruction worry and stress me over but now i'm pass the point where there's nothing i can do to keep someone from killing another over pork steaks cheeto's etc.. It's not even sad anymore it's become an embarrassment to me. All i want to do is try to do better to help St.Louis be better.These slayings are beyond our control and until the people who are involved or the cause of these reckless behaviors say they had enough and want to change their lives for better then we as a city and country will continue to suffer and deal with it unfortunately...
Is anyone else experiencing fatigue or just flat-out exhausted worrying about one small segment of society's ongoing, generational, never-ending issues?
I used to allow these acts of destruction worry and stress me over but now i'm pass the point where there's nothing i can do to keep someone from killing another over pork steaks cheeto's etc.. It's not even sad anymore it's become an embarrassment to me. All i want to do is try to do better to help St.Louis be better.These slayings are beyond our control and until the people who are involved or the cause of these reckless behaviors say they had enough and want to change their lives for better then we as a city and country will continue to suffer and deal with it unfortunately...
Understood. I wonder what Alderman French would think about these responses? That people don't care? That they agree it's someone else's problem? In a way, for Ald. French to throw it out there that murders in some neighborhoods are everyone's responsibility is sort of a red herring, isn't it?
What does he expect everyone else to do? I don't get it.
In the last year I've had window screens cut to see if the actual windows were unlocked, ransacking of the neighbors house, guns drawn on two nice young girls at an apartment break-in two doors down in broad daylight (the nice girls moved away immediately), a car damaged from an attempted car theft, neighbors with smash and grab car thefts. And I live in a half-way semi-decent South City neighborhood.
I have my own problems to worry about. I'm trying to get by too, man. So work on fixing yourself like everyone else does and I'm going to take vacation from worrying about College Hill for awhile.
I have my own problems to worry about. I'm trying to get by too, man. So work on fixing yourself like everyone else does and I'm going to take vacation from worrying about College Hill for awhile.
I completely understand this sentiment. Everyone is first concerned about their own neighborhood.
If you are the aldermen of a high crime area - it's your problem. It's not my problem. It's your residents' problem; it's a problem for the cops, it's a problem for the "city"; but, it's not "my" problem. Sorry.
That's like saying the civil war in Syria is "my" or "our" problem. In a way, sure. We pray for peace, we help indirectly through peace negotiations through our State Department. But to call it "my" problem is a stretch.
Same sort of stretch to say murders in North St. Louis are Carondelet's problem, or wherever. Now if I get shot in the crossfire someday, then yeah, sure, it's my problem.
Let's say you go on vacation and you give the keys to your neighbor to take care of the cat and look after things but said neighbor is in fact a meth user and gives the key to meth-making friends who in turn trash the place and cause $37,000 in damage to your home. Will your homeowner's insurance pay for that?
My response would be no.. Cause of the fact that you put trust into your neighbor to watch your home and cat therefore you become liable for any of the damages that may occur or was caused..I wonder if they had any idea of knowing the neighbor was a meth user?
Anybody else totally pissed off about the thugs who fired shots into a group of college students in Fox Park killing one person? I am. This is war as far as I'm concerned.
I saw that in the news too. He was a St. Louis college of pharmacy student. Absolutely rediculous. I hope the police are mounting a thorough manhunt for the perpetrator.
