St. Louis Observer: May 27, 2022
Our One Year Anniversary; families protest SLMPD's "no knock" policy; MO Corrections to ban physical mail; St. Charles judge rejects jury's death penalty sentence
Editor’s Note
I should be writing a celebratory post about the St. Louis Observer’s first year. A recap of the last 365 days, focused on the various facets that make up the abolition movement in the most important city in the country.
Instead, I am using this space today to advocate for the abolition of police.
If the Uvalde shooting has shown us anything, it’s that a good guy with a gun actually doesn’t stop a bad guy with a gun, and there’s no amount of training can create a reliable law enforcement. No number of active shooting drills can prepare even the most funded police department, and no piece of bullet-stopping equipment magically bestows bravery on a cop.
At the end of the day, police are not absorbing 50, 60, 70 percent of our towns’ budgets to protect our communities. In fact, with the exception of St. Louis, nearly every major US city has seen an increase in crime along with an increase in policing budget. That budget increase rarely translates to positive results for residents.
So why is it, that despite being the most-funded public departments across the country, police continually fail to meet public safety benchmarks that would demonstrate effective use of taxpayer dollars? They aren’t stopping gun violence, they aren’t solving crimes, and they certainly aren’t protecting children.
And to be clear - voting is not going to save us. Since 2010, there have been multiple acts of gun violence toward elected officials, including Democratic Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in January 2011 and a group of Republicans at a congressional baseball game in June 2017. So even the very people who should legislate gun control measures - despite being victims of gun violence themselves - cannot be relied upon to save us.
At the end of the day, was it ever reasonable for us to expect a system - built on slave patrols, kidnapping, and human trafficking - to ever truly protect and serve all of us?
We must save us; we are the only ones who can. And that starts with defunding the police and re-allocating those resources to the community organizations that have been proven to work. We must be bold enough to reconsider public safety, what works, and what doesn’t.
To this end, we can show up and demand better budgeting priorities. Saving ourselves also means a widespread recognition that police & their technology fail us, over & over. While most of St. Louis’ police technology is initially funded by the Police Foundation, taxpayers are burdened with the upkeep and maintenance.
We the People hold the power to change that, every year, by participating in the annual aldermanic budgeting process.
We can also continue this narrative shift, as more and more people awaken to the harsh realities of American policing. Not everyone travels the same path to abolition, but we can do our best to encourage our colleagues and comrades to continue their enlightenment and education on the issue as we strengthen our movement.
Finally, we must remember to be patient with ourselves and our progress as we work to abolish police, prisons, and the entire carceral system as we know it. The system wasn’t built in a day, nor will it be dismantled in one. But we can dream - big and radically - to redesign this institution that does not work for the vast majority of us.
Every step - no matter how small - is movement toward a better future. Thank you for being part of this journey with us.
In the News
Police, prosecutorial, and judicial accountability
A Washington County prosecuting attorney has filed the state’s second motion to vacate a conviction that advocates believe was wrongfully obtained. Michael Politte was 14 when he was arrested and was charged for the killing of his mother, although he recently was released on parole. Prosecutors argue in their motion to vacate that Politte’s conviction was based on evidence that has widely been accepted as false. [St. Louis Public Radio/Sarah Fenske]
Over the weekend, a St. Charles County deputy sheriff shot and killed his Cottleville neighbor’s three-year-old dog while the dog was secured and supervised inside the neighbor’s backyard. Video footage taken during an exchange between the neighbor and the police officer shows the officer admitting to shooting the dog and proudly doing so. St. Charles County has not announced whether any disciplinary action will be taken against the officer. [Riverfront Times/Daniel Hill]
Fulton municipal prosecuting attorney Eric Qualls has been arrested for fourth-degree assault at a business, believed to be a bar. Qualls has been released pending his upcoming arraignment and the Callaway County Sheriff’s Office has requested an outside agency to investigate the prosecutor’s actions. [Jefferson City News Tribune]
The Missouri Department of Corrections has announced that it is prohibiting inmates in state facilities from receiving most physical mail. Instead, the State has outsourced mail sorting to a private Texas-based company, which will scan and email to inmates digital copies of their mail. The DOC claims the move is necessary to stop the flow of drugs into the prisons while ignoring the more likely source of contraband: staff. A Marshall Project investigation last year found that a similar program implemented in Texas resulted in no change in the flow of contraband into state prisons. [St. Louis Public Radio/Shahla Farzan]
Family members of persons murdered by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department gathered this week to protest SLMPD’s “no-knock” arrests & raids, and other policing tactics that have resulted in the loss of innocent lives. The families also called for reforms to how SLMPD engages in vehicle pursuits and investigating taser-involved instances where civilians have died or been severely injured. [Riverfront Times/Monica Obradovic; St. Louis American/Alvin A. Reid]
Economic development & housing
More than six months have passed since the deadly tornado struck an Amazon warehouse facility - and Amazon has made no policy or procedural changes to protect its workers. Employees are speaking out after last week’s tornado sirens made obvious that Amazon’s leadership had failed to enact changes or clarifications to safety instructions, once again leaving workers inside the warehouse confused about and unsafe with the sheltering facilities. [St. Louis Public Radio/Eric Schmid]
Further reading
The City of St. Louis has announced expanded youth programming, in addition to extra SLMPD patrols and mandatory overtime shifts. Targeted policing areas were identified as Downtown and the North Riverfront neighborhoods. Federal grant funding will support new summer programs at seven St. Louis Public Schools as well as the City’s usual free summer camps. [St. Louis Public Radio/Rachel Lippmann]
A congressional commission has formally recommended the renaming of nine military bases that currently are named for Confederate soldiers. The recommendation includes proposed new names for the base, like renaming Fort Bragg to Fort Liberty and Fort Benning to Fort Moore, after Lt. Gen. Hal and Julia Moore for their service during the Vietnam War. [Missouri Independent/Jennifer Shutt]
Beyond the Paywall
To read these below articles in full, please visit SLPL.org and access these articles through the Digital Content tab. St. Louis City & County residents can read these publications for free using their library cards.
“St. Charles judge opts for life term instead of death sentence for ex-sheriff’s deputy,” by staff writers at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Prepare to say goodbye to Missouri’s presidential primary election,” by Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Lux Living lawyer subpoenas Hudson tenant who spoke to Post-Dispatch,” by Jacob Barker, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“St. Louis hopes solution to summer crime is combo of enforcement, youth programs,” by Dana Rieck, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Meet the Falcon: AI-powered license readers multiply as police tool in St. Louis suburbs,” by Erin Heffernan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“St. Louis police respond to criticism with details of crash that killed family,” by Dana Rieck, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Nearly 1 in 5 Missouri GOP lawmakers belongs to far-right Facebook groups, study says,” by Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star
Legislative Update
St. Louis City Board of Aldermen
BB 1, sponsored by Board President Lewis Reed, establishes the City’s annual budget. The bill will be heard in the Ways & Means Committee meeting on May 31 at 11:00 a.m. More information on how to sign up & give testimony on board bills before the Board of Aldermen can be found under the “Take Action” section.
BB 18, sponsored by Ald. Megan Green (Ward 15), would establish the “City Youth Council,” comprised of children and adults, to serve as an advisory board on youth-related issues to both the Office of the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen. The bill was passed out of committee on May 25 and read a second time before the full Board on May 26.
BB 26 and BB 29, sponsored by Ald. Green, would put before City voters the ballot issue of enacting a surcharge on developers who reduced the number of units for housing rehabs and redevelopment. The bills were assigned to the Neighborhood Development Committee on May 13.
Learn more about how a bill becomes a City ordinance.