St. Louis Observer: January 14, 2022
SLMPD Chief postpones retirement; local county jails flood with COVID cases; suspicious deaths of two Black men get another look
Editor’s Note
For decades, anti-violence activists have demanded more resources and funding to interruption programs, citing the successful outcomes of decreased homicides and serious injuries. But status quo politicians and well-funded police unions intervened before many of those demands could be met, resulting in hyper-inflated police budgets and no relief from rising crime statistics. Former Mayor Lyda Krewson and current Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed, for example, were accused of sabotaging efforts of the City’s crime interruption programs and rejected community suggestions to reduce violence. Despite having one of the largest police budget per capita in the entire country, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) routinely has failed to respond to violent crimes - let alone prevent them. Over-policing, in fact, has led to Black St. Louisans being arrested nearly three times as often as white St. Louisans, with the vast majority of those arrests being related to non-serious, non-violent crimes - all while crime in the City continued to increase.
Under the administration of Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, however, interruption programs like Cure Violence were revisited, analyzed, and funded in an effort to decrease homicides and gun-related crimes in St. Louis City. St. Louis Police Officers Association (SLPOA), the white police union, pushed back, alleging that more resources and more officers would be needed to address the record number of murders of 2020. Fighting every step of the way, SLPOA refused to acknowledge that any other measure - besides policing - could ever result in the decrease of violent crime in St. Louis.
This week, however, SLPOA was forced to eat its words.
Preliminary data from 2021 has shown that the Cure Violence program - finally unencumbered and able to do its work - has significantly contributed to the 25% decrease in homicides in St. Louis. Program staff reported intervening in more than 600 conflicts, so while nearly every other major city in the U.S. experienced increased violence and death in 2021, St. Louis stood alone. Despite obstacles placed by the Missouri legislature, St. Louis nevertheless persisted. City leadership has been able to allocate resources to programs that address the root causes of crime, and in doing so, has proven the decades-old demands of anti-violence activists to be the right path forward.
St. Louis always seems to set trends in the U.S., for better or for worse.
In the News
Police and prosecutorial accountability
St. Louis City Chief of Police John Hayden has announced that he will postpone his retirement while the City searches for his replacement. Mayor Jones’ office announced its intention to start over the police chief search after the Civil Service Commission produced only two white male candidates, including the notorious Lt. Col. Lawrence O’Toole, who oversaw SLMPD’s 2017 ruthless, costly response to peaceful protesters following the acquittal of former officer Jason Stockley. [St. Louis American/Dana Rieck]
Thousands of incarcerated inmates are expected to be released under a 2018 law that overhauled the federal criminal justice system. The law amended “time credits,” where an incarcerated person can shave time off of their sentence for participating in anti-recidivism programs, drug treatment, and educational and vocational classes. The mass release comes months after an internal inquiry revealed that the Bureau of Prisons had not applied time credits for more than 60,000 inmates. [Yahoo News/Michael Balsamo and Michael R. Sisak]
The family of a Black man who was murdered in Bourbon, Missouri, is disputing a Crawford County coroner’s inquest into the mysterious circumstances around the man’s death. Justin King, a well-liked 28-year old, was shot by a white neighbor, Eric Barber, while helping to search for a neighbor’s missing dog. Barber, a convicted felon who unlawfully possessed the firearm, will not be charged with any crime related to King’s murder. [St. Louis American/Staff]
A private investigation into the police-involved murder of Cortez Bufford in Carondelet has uncovered inconsistencies in the shooting officer’s testimony. SLMPD office Lucas Roethlistberger shot and killed Bufford after suspecting him urinating behind a gas station. Forensic journalist Alison Flowers detailed the inconsistencies that she found in Roethlisberger’s statements and noted that both officers involved in Bufford’s death were not interviewed for about a month after the shooting. [St. Louis Public Radio/Evie Hemphill; Riverfront Times/Alison Flowers]
The St. Louis County Jail has reported a record number of infections inside the facility, as the omicron COVID-19 variant continues to rage. Low staff vaccination rates, even lower detainee vaccination rates, and a shortage of reliable COVID tests have contributed to the increased positivity rates. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Annika Merrilees]
The Illinois Department of Corrections has announced that it will pause the intake of inmates from county jails, citing the omicron variant surge and already-strained staff. The pause is expected to further strain county sheriff’s departments, many of which have operated at or above capacity since the COVID pandemic began. [St. Louis Public Radio/Beth Hundsdorfer]
Economic development in St. Louis City and County
FBI records obtained by the Post-Dispatch show that the agency opened an investigation into white millionaire Paul McKee, focused on allegations that NorthSide Regeneration had funneled more than $40 million to the developer and associated businesses. Documents from 2018 revealed several interviews by FBI agents, including one with the real estate arm of the Archdiocese, and a series of questionable transactions that generated millions of dollars in state tax credits, So far, McKee has agreed to pay back $324,000 to the state fund from which he had stolen some of the tax credits. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jacob Barker]
Federal infrastructure funds are being allocated to Environmental Protection Agency Superfund projects in Missouri, although the first wave of resources is being distributed to predominantly white communities. One in four Black and Latino Americans resides within three miles of a Superfund site, and there is no expected date for additional federal relief for the remaining 31 remediation projects in Missouri. [St. Louis Public Radio/Evie Hemphill]
The City of St. Louis may be considering a little-utilized ordinance that would allow the Preservation Board to target negligent property owners who have allowed their historic buildings to crumble into disrepair. Under the 2014 “demolition by neglect” ordinance, the Cultural Resources Office director would be able to call a hearing for certain houses, with a potential finding that would allow the City to bill owners for emergency repairs. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Jacob Barker]
Further reading
During a time where multiple state agencies have been accused of withholding open public records, a public records request has revealed Gov. Mike Parson’s push for legislation to increase fees for obtaining records from the government. Parson’s proposed changes further would further limit which records members of the public could request and would allow the government to charge requestors for attorney time spent reviewing records before they are released - specifically addressing litigation that the State of Missouri lost in 2021 when attorney Elad Gross successfully argued that the current public record statutes do not permit charges for attorneys’ fees. [Missouri Independent/Tessa Weinberg]
The Missouri General Assembly is considering a ban on critical race theory, the graduate-level academic framework which focuses on the intersection of race, politics, and social justice, which conservatives have confused with teaching the complete and accurate history of the United States. Drawing record numbers of parents, teachers, students, and advocates to testify, Republican Rep. Nick Schroer’s (R-St. Charles) proposed bill would ban schools from using any curriculum that “identifies people or groups of people, entities, or institutions in the United States as inherently, immutably, or systematically sexist, racist, biased, privileged, or oppressed.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Grace Zokovitch]
Quote of the Week
Time and time again, the Missouri court system has shown that in reality, innocence is not enough. Regardless of if the person is on death row or sentenced to life imprisonment, the Missouri Attorney Genera’s Office and the court system work to uphold convictions by consistently pressing the courts to uphold procedural barriers, no matter how wrong, unjust, or inhumane; and the court system punts their duty to administer justice.
Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, 2021 Annual Report.
Legislative & Legal Update
City of St. Louis
BB 118, introduced by Ald. Jesse Todd (Ward 18) would allocate $1.1 million received under the federal YouthBuilds grant program, distributing the first $80,000 received to SLATE. This bill has been placed on the informal calendar after its third reading on December 14 and has had no further action since that time.
BB 119, introduced by Ald. Todd and Ald. Ingrassia (Ward 6), would repeal the City’s current loitering ordinance and would provide a legal defense for the amended criminal charge of loitering. This bill has been held in the Public Safety Committee since November 16, 2021, with no further action taken.
Resolution 159, sponsored by Aldermen Sharon Tyus (Ward 1), Jeffrey Boyd (Ward 22), and Pamela Boyd (Ward 27), would resolve that any new or expanded facility for unhoused persons be constructed in wards that do not already have facilities.
State of Missouri
The Missouri State Legislature resumed on January 5, 2022. Below are some of the bills that were either pre-filed or made movement in the first few days of session.
HJR 83, introduced by Rep. Shamed Dogan (R-St. Louis County), would legalize cannabis use for adults 21 years or older and would further reform state labor & policing laws related to cannabis. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 1476, introduced by Rep. Nick Schroer (R-St. Charles), would remove the City of St. Louis’ control over its own police department and return to state control. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 1800, introduced by Rep. Collins, would amend minimum service of prison sentences laws based on a sliding scale and previous criminal histories. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 1847, introduced by Rep. Bosley, would create a pathway for civil recourse for a person wrongfully convicted under Missouri law. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 1849, introduced by Rep. LaKeysha Bosley (D-St. Louis), would require the Missouri Attorney General to create a statewide database to track police officers accused of misconduct. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 1897, also introduced by Rep. Collins, would establish a Corrections Nursery Program, to keep incarcerated mothers and their infants together. A public hearing was held on the bill on January 12, 2022.
HB 1919, introduced by Rep. Kimberly Ann Collins (D-St. Louis), would create a tax credit for urban farms located in food deserts. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 1922, also introduced by Rep. Collins, establishes an oversight board for the Missouri Department of Corrections. The bill was read a second time on January 6, 2022.
HB 2333, also introduced by Rep. Aldridge, would reform the state’s current cash bail system and would require county jails to conduct risk assessments of persons detained within 24 hours of arrest. The bill was read a second time on January 10, 2022.
HB 2338, introduced by Rep. Rasheen Aldridge (D-St. Louis), would decriminalize certain prostitution offenses and would redefine “unlawful commercial sex act” within state law. The bill was read a second time on January 10, 2022.