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PostJan 16, 2015#4901

Ebsy wrote:The shooting at the Drury Inn & Suites is rough. Just a tragedy.
It is tragic but this kind of crimes happens everyday across the county

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PostJan 16, 2015#4902

^Still doesn't make it less rough.

Man goes to work to make an honest living. Opens door for someone who he thought was (or wanted to be guest) and ends up dead with a bullet to head.

Man waiting for a party bus downtown with a few other people and ends up dead (shot in the back) because he held a conversation with his would-be robber. A lady friend was shot, but survived.

Sickening - no matter how you slice it. They will never hear good music, see a good movie, taste good food, enjoy a game, a good party, a good bath, a relationship, vacations, their children, their pets, church, family or friends ever again all because an a**hole stole their life.

These people could have been you, me or one of our loved ones.

PostJan 16, 2015#4903

Scott Knopfel's Facebook page

Based on the surveillance video from inside the Drury, I can guarantee that dude has killed many times before. He walked away with an urgent coolness. By wearing that Bulls cap, I wonder if he could be from Chicago?

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PostJan 16, 2015#4904

^The fact that the hotel is right off the interstate coupled with the dress, age and demeanor of the perp makes me think this is a passing through crime.

I could be wrong but something tells me when this guy is caught he might be two or three states over.

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PostJan 16, 2015#4905

I was thinking the same thing. I wonder if the bad guys are thinking, "those people in St. Louis, they're easy targets. St. Louis is the murder/crime capitol of the country, so I want me some of that action".

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PostJan 16, 2015#4906

arch city wrote:Scott Knopfel's Facebook page

Based on the surveillance video from inside the Drury, I can guarantee that dude has killed many times before. He walked away with an urgent coolness. By wearing that Bulls cap, I wonder if he could be from Chicago?
You know what's cray cray? Over ten years I live in the city and never once have I received a jury summons. Isn't that peculiar? I think they must have got the memo down at the courthouse that I can tell if someone is guilty JUST BY LOOKING AT THEM.

I bet it flashed through this hotel manager's mind that something wasn't right about this guy. I bet it also flashed through his mind that it would be racist to not let him in. Unfortunately, his decision cost him his life.

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PostJan 16, 2015#4907

You know what's cray cray? Over ten years I live in the city and never once have I received a jury summons. Isn't that peculiar?
Maybe you're not registered to vote? Or not, apparently being a registered voter is not a requirement. But these are:

https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/external/jur ... rvisor.cfm

Do you meet all of the tests above?

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PostJan 16, 2015#4908

I think the way many people talk about profiling misses the point. Racial profiling, IMO, is a little bit of a misnomer. When we encounter someone on the street, we're always trying to make a snap judgment assessment of whether that person is friend or foe. A lot of that is based on clothes, language, demeanor, etc - stuff that you can see or hear from a safe personal distance. If someone is behaving twitchily, if they speak in heavy slang, or are louder than everyone else, if they wear clothes that don't fit (or fit in with prevalent mainstream ideas of fashion) or that scream "outlaw," if they have prominent tattoos in unusual locations - these are the things that will make me take note of and possibly avoid them on the street, because these red flags tell me the person may not be not educated, may not be employed, may be looking for trouble, may be bad at decisionmaking, and may not share my sense of civic values or respect for others' life and property, among other things. I think this is what police are really profiling, or trying to profile. Which is to say, if there is a black person walking down the street presenting like Lil Wayne, and another black person walking down the street presenting like a J Crew model or the Wal Mart/thrift shop approximation of J Crew, one person is a lot less likely to be noticed by the officer because one is much less likely to be a threat, by appearances anyway. And I'm okay with that. That isn't to say personal presentation is always an accurate representation of a person's values, but it does speak to the image someone wants to project to the world. At a glance it's all you have to go on, and when your goal is to minimize personal risk, all you have are the things you can see and hear at a distance. All that said, there are a lot of cases of normal looking black people getting hassled by police for DWB or other non-infractions. That needs to stop.

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PostJan 16, 2015#4909

southsidepride wrote:^The fact that the hotel is right off the interstate coupled with the dress, age and demeanor of the perp makes me think this is a passing through crime.

I could be wrong but something tells me when this guy is caught he might be two or three states over.
Yep, if the local po-pos (or Major Case Squad) can't solve the crime, they need to get the FBI involved.

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PostJan 16, 2015#4910

More and more local voices speaking up, citing a racist system of criminal justice in St. Louis:

http://m.stltoday.com/news/opinion/raci ... touch=true

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PostJan 16, 2015#4911

Also, police need to have reasonable suspicion or probable cause that person is about to commit a crime or has committed a crime.

Stopping someone solely based on the way they are dressed, their race, their ethnicity, the type of car they are driving or because they look like "Lil Wayne" is a violation of one's civil rights. Of course police get around this by saying, "You fit the profile of a suspect." or "You were not going with the flow of traffic." knowing full well they are lying.

Anyway, the 9-11 hijackers were wearing oxford and designer shirts and they killed 3,000 people while police were likely out harassing black men who dressed like "Lil Wayne". On the flip side, there are cops in the finest blues, who are KKK members and white supremacists.

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PostJan 16, 2015#4912

leeharveyawesome wrote: You know what's cray cray? Over ten years I live in the city and never once have I received a jury summons. Isn't that peculiar?
My parents are called like clockwork every 2 years.

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PostJan 16, 2015#4913

arch city wrote:Also, police need to have reasonable suspicion or probable cause that person is about to commit a crime or has committed a crime.

Stopping someone solely based on the way they are dressed, their race, their ethnicity, the type of car they are driving or because they look like "Lil Wayne" is a violation of one's civil rights. Of course police get around this by saying, "You fit the profile of a suspect." or "You were not going with the flow of traffic." knowing full well they are lying.

Anyway, the 9-11 hijackers were wearing oxford and designer shirts and they killed 3,000 people while police were likely out harassing black men who dressed like "Lil Wayne". On the flip side, there are cops in the finest blues, who are KKK members and white supremacists.
I think what you're trying to say is:

"Some of those who work forces.... ARE THE SAME THAT BURN CROSSES! UGH!! KILLING IN THE NAME OF!!!"

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PostJan 18, 2015#4914

Arrest in the Drury Inn murder.

Guy is from Poplar Bluff/Caruthersville area.

Something told me this wasn't a homegrown crime

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PostJan 18, 2015#4915

And last night for the first time I heard a long-time city resident talking about experiencing an irrational fear of crime and feeling the urge to move to the suburbs. This same person has made a career out of working in high crime, low income neighborhoods. She admitted it was purely a "feeling" and not based on facts.

I have no idea how the cops, elected officials, neighbors, or anyone else can prevent a crime like this. The suspect was a desperate career criminal. The strange part is that his wife is a nurse. You'd think someone with a wife with a decent, above average paying job wouldn't turn into a violent, career criminal. But there you go. This man's life was a financial mess.

Once more, it's shown here that economic issues are frequently the root of crime.

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PostJan 18, 2015#4916

I could hear the gun fire from my house

KMOV - Man shot while waiting for MetroLink
Police say a 25-year-old man was shot while waiting for the MetroLink in the 200 block of Debaliviere Saturday night.

Read more: http://www.kmov.com/news/editors-pick/M ... z3PBdTjAnw
http://www.kmov.com/news/editors-pick/M ... 45751.html

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PostJan 18, 2015#4917

I agree. With the demise of unions and competing cheap labor overseas, we've seemingly lost control of shaping an economic system that justly shares the wealth with all segments of our society. There is no Constitutional Amendment that says we can't reshape our own system to get back to the work and reward ratios of the 1950s. We believe in democracy for all stakeholders, except at work. Unions were the closest thing we had to worker democracy. Maybe we need to give workers elected seats on corporate boards without unions. I believe workers are educated enough to vote themselves higher wages without demanding too much and killing their companies. But it requires the kind of trust in people that statesmen showed when they believed the people could could take over the management of countries from kings.

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PostJan 18, 2015#4918

Northside Neighbor wrote:And last night for the first time I heard a long-time city resident talking about experiencing an irrational fear of crime and feeling the urge to move to the suburbs. This same person has made a career out of working in high crime, low income neighborhoods. She admitted it was purely a "feeling" and not based on facts.

I have no idea how the cops, elected officials, neighbors, or anyone else can prevent a crime like this. The suspect was a desperate career criminal. The strange part is that his wife is a nurse. You'd think someone with a wife with a decent, above average paying job wouldn't turn into a violent, career criminal. But there you go. This man's life was a financial mess.

Once more, it's shown here that economic issues are frequently the root of crime.
There is a lot of irrational fear out there. People shouldn't overreact.

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PostJan 18, 2015#4919

quincunx wrote:I could hear the gun fire from my house

KMOV - Man shot while waiting for MetroLink
Police say a 25-year-old man was shot while waiting for the MetroLink in the 200 block of Debaliviere Saturday night.

Read more: http://www.kmov.com/news/editors-pick/M ... z3PBdTjAnw
http://www.kmov.com/news/editors-pick/M ... 45751.html
That station seems in obvious need of more security. It's gotta be the sketchiest of any Metrolink station (not counting ones in north city/ESL, which I've never had occasion to use).

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PostJan 18, 2015#4920

I think the whole stl area fears crime way to much I felt safer in St Louis city then when I lived in Brooklyn. I do think crime as gone up in Kirkwood a little but not to the point were both my neighbors went out bought a gun and say the town is going to S***. I lived in LA for 3 years and born and raised In NYC people there in those places fear urban ills a lot less. yes crime is a problem in a lot of L.A. but I never herd people there say I am scared to go to the city. What holds back STL peoples over blown fears of the city. I do blame local TV new for over blowing shooting stories and stores were any crime happens downtown. For example if some one gets punched downtown in a fight that sound not be on the news. Local media know people here have over blown fears of crime and build there whole newscast around true crime stories. They never talking about how good the grove is doing or CWE or Cherokee street. I am tired of hearing the media say it is in some what of a revival. sorry for the rant had to say what I feel and notice.

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PostJan 18, 2015#4921

eee123 wrote:
quincunx wrote:I could hear the gun fire from my house

KMOV - Man shot while waiting for MetroLink
Police say a 25-year-old man was shot while waiting for the MetroLink in the 200 block of Debaliviere Saturday night.
http://www.kmov.com/news/editors-pick/M ... 45751.html
That station seems in obvious need of more security. It's gotta be the sketchiest of any Metrolink station (not counting ones in north city/ESL, which I've never had occasion to use).
Yeah, there is usually security on the platform. They need some at street level and better lighting around the bus stop. Hopefully we'll get some if the trolley and greenway ever happen.

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PostJan 18, 2015#4922

I think a lot of the fear of crime comes from our out-sized cop/union/dominant Catholic culture, where people tend think in herds and follow what others say. In St. Louis, a lot of people have connections with cop families (along with firefighters, EMS workers, patronage city workers, and political families/machines). In those networks, there's broad deference to cop culture, and the cops themselves promote a psychology of fear (not so much our current chief, but many of the rank and file).

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PostJan 18, 2015#4923

I have said before that the Forest Park Debaliviere station is really scary, especially if you need to buy a Metrolink ticket. There is always a group of black men crowding around the ticket consoles trying to sell expired transfers, and it makes me super uncomfortable. I use the station twice a week, but if I could get off at Skinker, I would.

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PostJan 19, 2015#4924

Ebsy wrote:I have said before that the Forest Park Debaliviere station is really scary, especially if you need to buy a Metrolink ticket. There is always a group of black men crowding around the ticket consoles trying to sell expired transfers, and it makes me super uncomfortable. I use the station twice a week, but if I could get off at Skinker, I would.
Is it the black men that are scary, or is it the fact that they are soliciting around the ticket consoles?

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PostJan 19, 2015#4925

Just heard some gunfire a few minutes ago. Just as loud as the ones last night.

I usually enter and exit via the west staircase. There aren't people hanging around at the top of the steps.

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