Crime Thread

arch city · PostJan 12, 2015#47762015-01-12T21:33+00:00

erina wrote: Please explain the high risk behaviors of Hoang Nguyen, Matt Quain, Mon Rai and Megan Boken. I'll wait.

There are many others you have not mentioned. Unfortunately, people of all backgrounds have been victims of violent and random crime in metro St. Louis.

The police can't be everywhere, true, and I agree that all people should be mindful of their surroundings and not get themselves in precarious situations.

Nonetheless, most criminals are afraid of the cops. Again, more police officers and cars are needed downtown in the late night/early morning hours - flashing lights and all. And when downtown closes, police officers need to enforce curfew for everyone - except essential downtown workers. City Hall is not being tough enough.

There's a way to be tough on crime with violating people's civil rights and liberties.

In Texas, police departments are notorious for situating "dummy police cars" around town to act as a deterrent to crime.

sirshankalot · PostJan 12, 2015#47772015-01-12T21:35+00:00

I can't comprehend Slay's silence.....He no longer leads....THROW A FIT FRAN

roger wyoming II · PostJan 12, 2015#47782015-01-12T21:35+00:00

wow, just heard about the shootout with the suspects in the deadly shooting by City Museum who escaped in Washington Park. And apparently the car was from an earlier carjacking downtown

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crim ... 74fed.html

Northside Neighbor · PostJan 12, 2015#47792015-01-12T21:54+00:00

I really don't know what people here think can be done.

Listing the names of crime victims does exactly what? Yes, they are victims. And yes there will be crime. Murder, robbery, you name it.

Virvus Jones is right: poverty is the father of crime. Fix poverty, reduce crime.

If you think the cops will save you, good luck with that. Bad guys will find a place to commit their evil deeds.

Making downtown a walled off, check your guns at the door, high security zone won't happen.

Having a cop on every corner won't happen.

I am downtown every day. I'm in North City all the time. I'm in the city as much as I possibly can be. I live here and I see cops everywhere. The cops are the second highest expenditure on the city budget after public schools.

What do I take away from this discussion? I sure am glad I have other things to spend time on besides living in fear of crime and talking all the time about what to do about it.

Look at the totals on this website. The crime thread must have 100X more activity than anything else. Wow.

erina · PostJan 12, 2015#47802015-01-12T22:06+00:00

Northside Neighbor wrote:I really don't know what people here think can be done.

Listing the names of crime victims does exactly what? Yes, they are victims. And yes there will be crime. Murder, robbery, you name it.

Answer the question, Claire.

Northside Neighbor · PostJan 12, 2015#47812015-01-12T22:19+00:00

The Post-Dispatch just posted a picture of the young man murdered the other night outside City Museum.

Damn shame, awful tragedy. What a waste.

It then went on to say police officers from STL and ESTL were in a shootout with the suspects.

It's like we are living in a country overrun with terrorists.

roger wyoming II · PostJan 12, 2015#47822015-01-12T22:51+00:00

2014 crime stats are out by neighborhood

http://www.slmpd.org/crimestats/CRM0013-BY_201412.pdf

As you might expect up in some places and down in others.

Anglophile · PostJan 12, 2015#47832015-01-12T23:34+00:00

Stop and frisk would do wonders for downtown, but the PC Police would NEVER allow it. Better for people to get robbed and killed than risk offending anybody!

roger wyoming II · PostJan 12, 2015#47842015-01-12T23:39+00:00

Indiscriminate stop and frisk doesn't reduce crime. Reasonable suspicion stops and searches are fine.

edit... actually here is a timely article from Radley Balko, the libertarian who I believe is speaking tonight at SLU on how crime is dropping across the country and the style of policing really doesn't seem to have an impact so of course its better to pursue community policing as much as possible:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the- ... -policing/

MarkHaversham · PostJan 12, 2015#47852015-01-12T23:53+00:00

Anglophile wrote:Stop and frisk would do wonders for downtown, but the PC Police would NEVER allow it. Better for people to get robbed and killed than risk offending anybody!

Those PC police and their demand that we not regularly rough up the minorities without cause just to remind them who is boss.

True_dope · PostJan 13, 2015#47862015-01-13T02:12+00:00

Word is out the suspects downtown robbery are from the east side

roger wyoming II · PostJan 13, 2015#47872015-01-13T02:22+00:00

^ if word includes an exchange of gunfire with police, you are correct!

stlien · PostJan 13, 2015#47882015-01-13T02:29+00:00

Saying they are from IL and they shot at you is the only response the police could give. If they would've responded with a simple "we lost them and have no leads," people would think they aren't doing their jobs.

Anyone here know any police officers who will tell them if a "shots fired" call (or anything of the sort) was made?

downtown2007 · PostJan 13, 2015#47892015-01-13T02:48+00:00

This was a random crime. Not a drug deal or horse play. Just a crime of opportunity.

jcity · PostJan 13, 2015#47902015-01-13T04:21+00:00

Downtown St. Louis needs to be the priority for the city. I'm sorry, but not all areas of the city are equally as important. Yea, I said it. Yes, obviously all areas need policing but some do more than others. How many families will now be scared to go to the city museum, let alone downtown.

-Cameras on every corner in the CBD
-Cameras on all bridges into east STL and other high crime areas that monitor license plates.
-More police walking "the beat" downtown
-harshest sentencing in the entire country! We have a major problem that needs fixing and spare me the criminal defense sob stories. Shooting people should equal the death penalty or life and even the threat to kill in a mugging should equate to a minimum of 30 years for first offenders.

I'm sorry, I don't love the idea of a police state, but this has to stop. I'm sure I'll continue to repost this same post at least quarterly since this won't be the end of this.

onecity · PostJan 13, 2015#47912015-01-13T04:45+00:00

I'm sorry, but not all areas of the city are equally as important.

Bingo! Those parts of the city that are a draw for young, affluent families and college educated singles should be top priority, because those are the places that create demand.

True_dope · PostJan 13, 2015#47922015-01-13T07:14+00:00

I think the city should pull officers everything north of MLK and east of grand to build up other parts of th city

downtown2007 · PostJan 13, 2015#47932015-01-13T13:16+00:00

Downtown residents and businesses are going to have to pay for an extra security company to do patrols. The amount of officers we currently have is inadequate. In addition, loft dwellers and workers need to stay active and hit the sidewalks. Eyes I the street are the best deterrent.

Northside Neighbor · PostJan 13, 2015#47942015-01-13T13:39+00:00

Remember, it's only January.

Doesn't downtown already have increased security through its CID?

Does City Museum also have increased security?

Late night businesses downtown should probably have security escorts walking people safely to their cars after hours.

The last building I worked in offered this. Never used it, but some did.

Excellent point about loft dwellers being more the answer.

MarkHaversham · PostJan 13, 2015#47952015-01-13T14:18+00:00

jcity wrote:Downtown St. Louis needs to be the priority for the city. I'm sorry, but not all areas of the city are equally as important. Yea, I said it. Yes, obviously all areas need policing but some do more than others. How many families will now be scared to go to the city museum, let alone downtown.

-Cameras on every corner in the CBD
-Cameras on all bridges into east STL and other high crime areas that monitor license plates.
-More police walking "the beat" downtown
-harshest sentencing in the entire country! We have a major problem that needs fixing and spare me the criminal defense sob stories. Shooting people should equal the death penalty or life and even the threat to kill in a mugging should equate to a minimum of 30 years for first offenders.

I'm sorry, I don't love the idea of a police state, but this has to stop. I'm sure I'll continue to repost this same post at least quarterly since this won't be the end of this.

What's the current sentence for shooting someone?

roger wyoming II · PostJan 13, 2015#47962015-01-13T14:41+00:00

roger wyoming II wrote:2014 crime stats are out by neighborhood

http://www.slmpd.org/crimestats/CRM0013-BY_201412.pdf

As you might expect up in some places and down in others.

For comparison purposes, here are the crime stats for 2009 which includes 2008.

http://www.slmpd.org/crimestats/CRM0013-BY_200912.pdf

Homicides were a bit lower in 2014 than 2008 & a bit higher than 2009 but overall reported crime was much less.

With respect to downtown (including DW), I see overall crimes against persons is down from the '08-'09 period and there were 5 homicides in 2008, 7 in 2009 and 7 in 2014.

Not to discount these awful high profile incidents in recent months, but I think the numbers underscore that crime is a persistent issue downtown and citywide but not one that is out-of-control compared to earlier years. It sucks that there has been an uptick recently, but hopefully that is an anomaly and will return to the downward path.

MarkHaversham · PostJan 13, 2015#47972015-01-13T14:59+00:00

The number of homicides downtown is so small that it's meaningless to compare one year against another. The sample size is much too small.

gregl · PostJan 13, 2015#47982015-01-13T15:59+00:00

arch city wrote:
In Texas, police departments are notorious for situating "dummy police cars" around town to act as a deterrent to crime.

St. Louis already does this, albeit without an actual dummy in the car.

Greg

roger wyoming II · PostJan 13, 2015#47992015-01-13T16:17+00:00

^^ But as I was pointing out, the comparison is helpful in that it informs that homicide and other crimes are not out-of-control downtown compared to prior years. If homicides grow from the typical half-dozen or so a year that its been experiencing to a significantly higher level then that would be extremely troubling and a huge blow, whatever the issues with sampling sizes may be.

Northside Neighbor · PostJan 13, 2015#48002015-01-13T16:46+00:00

Let's see...in or around my person...

We've had a car jacking, a murder, our car was stolen, and our home vandalized.

Am I particularly afraid of crime or ready to go the "CC" route?

No.

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