urbanSTL

symphonicpoet wrote: ↑

Dec 17, 2020

pattimagee wrote: ↑

Dec 16, 2020

From most of the communication from city gov't over the past two decades, it feels like there's been a structural push to empty out the Northside (or at least parts of it)... I could be wrong, but ever since I've been in STL, there really hasn't been anyone with power who "really" wanted to fix what's broken, rather the goal has seemingly been... let it hit rock bottom. 

I don't think that's really a secret, and I don't think it's just the last twenty years. More like the last fifty. It's been widely speculated and even reported for decades. I've been hearing the same thing since the nineties at least, with the idea that it began in the sixties or seventies or even earlier. (With red-lining, "slum clearance," lack of policing, and code enforcement and so forth.) There have been periodic moves to do something about it, but nothing much ever seems to come of them.

More like 100+:



-RBB

^Oh hey! There's even a union bug on that lovely political flyer. Look for the union label! Allied Printing Trades Council, in this case. Or Allied Label, if you prefer. I think you could probably even figure out what shop printed that, though St. Louis now seems to skip from 72, Aloha Print and Copy LLC, to 75, MCI Printing, Inc. Which isn't too surprising for a union bug a hundred years old.

Yes. We have a long and disgraceful history of getting it wrong. As does the entire country. But I shouldn't take that as an excuse. It's past time to do better.

The Teneo assessment of the STLMPD and STLCPD has been released.  I briefly glanced at the County document, but read through the entire one for the City.  I think it is well-done and really shines a light on some major issues that are troubling the STLMPD.  Teneo's recommendations are concise and nicely packaged in manageable time frames.  With that being said, I am not so delusional to think that they will all be easy to implement, and that the STLPMD will choose to adopt all or even most of these recommendations. 

I think everyone (including the coppers) can agree, however, that whatever City leadership and the STLMPD are currently doing (and have been doing in the recent past) is not effective.  Here's hoping that Chief Hayden, Lyda, and the incoming mayor really take the recommendations to heart.

https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/d ... -21-20.pdf

The police unions need to be on board too.

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 01, 2021

JFC, there's a lot of gunfire.

I'm glad my brother wasn't in town. He suffers from PTSD relating to the Iraq War. This is exactly the type of thing that triggers the really bad effects.

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 01, 2021

JFC, there's a lot of gunfire.

Same every year, no? All the NYEs I spent in STL were absolutely nuts, this year did not seem any different at least in my area (TGE). Followed by our favorite Jan 1st tradition: looking for bullet casings in our backyard!

Casings...scary, as those eject close to the gun. Slugs...sure.

We had slow, steady, scattered shots and fireworks throughout the evening in U City, then right after midnight it was a solid ten or fifteen minutes of bedlam. I was consciously listening for them, so it sounded worse than last year, but who knows.

I haven't been home for NYE for few years. Regardless it was so bad.

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 02, 2021

I haven't been home for NYE for few years. Regardless it was so bad.

I realize my reply to you was unnecessarily snarky, but I just get frustrated at the whole situation. It's awful for people who have pets and small children, and I can only imagine what it is for those with PTSD and similar issues. Unfortunately there is no feasible fix for this problem, which just adds to the frustration.

How about this?  Combine existing technology (ShotSpotter, cameras, drones?, instant gun residue tests?)  with hiring a sh!tton of law enforcement from surrounding counties, to the point of multiple officers on MANY residential blocks in the city, from 11PM on the 31st to 1AM on the 1st.  (Okay, I'll admit, I'm not crazy about that but hey, just humor me for a bit).

You get the following results:

• Revenue generation for the city (Seriously fine offenders)
• Remove firearms from the community (You fire a gun in public for no reason, you should lose it, I know, NRA will have a problem with this)
• Restrict weapons possession for those who are irresponsible (Take away gun rights of offenders)
• Remove dangerous people from the community (Jail time for repeat offenders)

This isn't a 100% serious idea from me, maybe 60% serious...  More just food for thought as the same old thing of politely asking residents to not fire weapons on New Years is clearly not working.

I agree with everything you wrote, but (2) and (3) are essentially gun control and are thus politically not feasible.

Sounds familiar

NY Times - Gunfire and Crashing Cars: In Struggling Neighborhoods, ‘We’re Losing Our Grip’

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/us/c ... eland.html

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the newly elected District Attorney won on a platform that includes:

"a mandate to stop seeking prior felony conviction enhancements, including for gun possession, gang membership and violating the "three strikes" law, that lengthen sentences when suspects are convicted". 

The union representing Los Angeles County prosecutors has sued their boss, newly elected District Attorney George Gascón, over his attempt to impose justice reforms.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/los-angeles- ... 22766.html

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 02, 2021

Sounds familiar

NY Times - Gunfire and Crashing Cars: In Struggling Neighborhoods, ‘We’re Losing Our Grip’

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/us/c ... eland.html

Not to discredit the strain of covid on people's lives but I don't think this can be blamed on the virus. Losing your job doesn't make you threaten your neighbors or shoot their dog. We need to solve the crime culture problem and conflict resolution. Egos are so frail that somehow the only solution becomes death and destruction of the other entity. 
 

flipz wrote: ↑

Jan 04, 2021

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 02, 2021

Sounds familiar

NY Times - Gunfire and Crashing Cars: In Struggling Neighborhoods, ‘We’re Losing Our Grip’

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/us/c ... eland.html

Not to discredit the strain of covid on people's lives but I don't think this can be blamed on the virus. Losing your job doesn't make you threaten your neighbors or shoot their dog. We need to solve the crime culture problem and conflict resolution. Egos are so frail that somehow the only solution becomes death and destruction of the other entity. 
 

You don't think that losing your job increases stress, or that stress can induce irrational behavior?

flipz wrote: ↑

Jan 04, 2021

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 02, 2021

Sounds familiar

NY Times - Gunfire and Crashing Cars: In Struggling Neighborhoods, ‘We’re Losing Our Grip’

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/us/c ... eland.html

Not to discredit the strain of covid on people's lives but I don't think this can be blamed on the virus. Losing your job doesn't make you threaten your neighbors or shoot their dog. We need to solve the crime culture problem and conflict resolution. Egos are so frail that somehow the only solution becomes death and destruction of the other entity. 
 

the fuk.....

MarkHaversham wrote: ↑

Jan 05, 2021

flipz wrote: ↑

Jan 04, 2021

quincunx wrote: ↑

Jan 02, 2021

Sounds familiar

NY Times - Gunfire and Crashing Cars: In Struggling Neighborhoods, ‘We’re Losing Our Grip’

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/02/us/c ... eland.html

Not to discredit the strain of covid on people's lives but I don't think this can be blamed on the virus. Losing your job doesn't make you threaten your neighbors or shoot their dog. We need to solve the crime culture problem and conflict resolution. Egos are so frail that somehow the only solution becomes death and destruction of the other entity. 
 

You don't think that losing your job increases stress, or that stress can induce irrational behavior?

Of course but I don't think it makes someone kill another person. These things have been going on for a long time. People argue then someone pulls out a gun like that is a valid response.

flipz wrote: ↑

Jan 05, 2021

MarkHaversham wrote: ↑

Jan 05, 2021

flipz wrote: ↑

Jan 04, 2021

Not to discredit the strain of covid on people's lives but I don't think this can be blamed on the virus. Losing your job doesn't make you threaten your neighbors or shoot their dog. We need to solve the crime culture problem and conflict resolution. Egos are so frail that somehow the only solution becomes death and destruction of the other entity. 
 

You don't think that losing your job increases stress, or that stress can induce irrational behavior?

Of course but I don't think it makes someone kill another person. These things have been going on for a long time. People argue then someone pulls out a gun like that is a valid response.

I see a few things going on. First, you're correct. Losing your job in and of itself does not directly cause people to murder other people or their pets. However, in neighborhoods like those described in the article, the chronic lack of investment, opportunity, and support certainly impacts a person's ability to cope. While I'm not a neuropsychologist, if you search the impact of consistently high levels of stress on a person (sometimes over a decade), it has some significant psychological and physiological impacts. One of which can be a lack of resilience. There are likely book chapters more of reasons this happens, but our environments definitely impact us. Lastly, something about this year is different. If you search online for 2020 homicide rates (include city name), you are more likely than not to find most U.S. metros having one of the highest levels of homicides in decades. This might be the stress of job loss, change in lifestyle, etc. that COVID brought.

^ and honestly i don't think we've yet realized the extent to which noise pollution is literally driving people nuts (in addition to causing heart disease and a number of other stress-related conditions). research shows that even when you're not aware of it, persistent exposure to loud noise (like, i don't know, the sound of terrorizing bass or F-150s with tail pipes as thick as your torso roaring past your house all day long or regular gunfire) induces your body's stress response, which wears down your health over time. it disproportionately affects lower income folks because—surprise, surprise—they're more likely to live next to stroads and highways instead of on cul de sacs and private and/or blocked streets. but it's becoming more and more difficult to find peace anywhere.

... and after 3.5 years of what I can only consider an extremely lucky streak, it finally happened to us last night. Someone jumped the privacy fence to our carport and broke into our car. They did not take anything of value (the only thing of value in the car was the dashcam, which they probably did not even notice was there). Our neighbor caught them jumping our fence on camera and called the police. Police knocked at our door at 4am to tell us our carport had been broken into and fill the report (honestly having someone unexpectedly knocking at our door at 4am was the most distressing part of the whole story). Seems whoever did this was on a roll as I got multiple reports of burglary in the surrounding blocks via lookoutstl. We just moved to a new place a few months ago and had not gotten around to installing a home security system, guess that just jumped to the top of the priority list.
My wife is a bit shaken but to be honest I am only surprised that this did not happen earlier.