St. Louis Observer: September 16, 2022
Private policing in St. Louis in national spotlight; family of teenager killed by police calls for release of body cam footage; pro-police judge pauses civilian oversight board reform
Editor’s Note
This week, two in-depth pieces on private policing in St. Louis were published by national news outlet ProPublica. One article covered the make-up of the private policing firms, which includes several top-ranking SLMPD officers, and the other discussed the unequal, two-tiered public safety system that has been created by private policing. Each received attention, locally and nationwide, once again putting St. Louis police in a spotlight that illuminated underlying racism in law enforcement practices here.
Unsurprisingly, both articles compare the money and resources available to wealthy white neighborhoods and the lack thereof in lower-income and Black neighborhoods. Neighborhoods like the Central West End, Soulard, and Lafayette Square were some of the first to adopt special taxing districts in order to pay for private policing firms like The City’s Finest and Campbell Security Group. Other neighborhoods, especially those north of Delmar, experience the City’s highest rates of crime and receive the fewest resources to curb violence.
“Public policing, for all its problems — and it has many, many problems — does represent a commitment to protect people equally, not based on their wealth or political power,” said David Sklansky, a criminal law professor at Stanford University. “So the privatization of policing represents a retreat from that promise.”
Both articles together paint a clearer picture of law enforcement in St. Louis: our department’s problems do not stem from a lack of recruitment or a residency requirement. Instead, we can look to the very real impact caused by security firms that poach city police.
Private policing firms use public funds, collected through the special taxing districts, to pay private security guards more than what our taxpayer-funded department does, enticing officers away from their public service duties using promises of higher wages and bonus “bounties” for solving crimes or catching suspects. In turn, this creates a massive disparity of resources, favoring wealthier neighborhoods that can afford those premium prices and demonstrating what most of us have always known:
Modern policing does not exist to serve people; instead, it is an institution that protects only property.
In the News
Police, prosecutorial, and judicial accountability
Policing outcomes in wealthy white St. Louis neighborhoods have been tied to those neighborhoods’ hiring of private security firms, creating two unequal levels of law enforcement across the City. Low-income & minority neighborhoods do not have the resources or legal structures (like special business districts or community improvement districts) to hire private police, and SLMPD has struggled to provide patrols in parts of the city that suffer high rates of violent crime. [ProPublica, Jeremy Kohler]
An in-depth investigation into SLMPD has revealed that St. Louis City’s largest private policing firm, The City’s Finest, is staffed with numerous top-ranking cops - including the major who oversees homicide & rape investigations and the commander of South Patrol, which encompasses ⅓ of the police districts. The City’s Finest pays police officers moonlighting as private security at a higher wage, essentially outbidding SLMPD for its own workforce and discouraging officers from picking up overtime shifts. [ProPublica/Jeremy Kohler]
Six detainees have died since April while in St. Louis City custody. Civil rights advocates have pointed to overcrowding and confinement for 23 hours every day, along with abusive use of pepper spray, bear mace, and tear gas that are routinely used on detainees. [Riverfront Times/Ryan Krull; Fox 2/Jim Salter]
Economic development & housing
St. Louis writer Vivian Gibson has been named Missouri Author of the Year for her book, “The Last Children of Mill Creek,” which documented her childhood and her family’s lives in the historic Mill Creek Valley before the neighborhood was demolished in 1959 in the name of “urban renewal.” Gibson’s book details the effort to displace more than 20,000 Black St. Louisans to construct interstates throughout the City. [St. Louis Public Radio/Chad Davis]
While the costs of tuition and living at Washington University have increased, the wealth gap between the surrounding residents and those who work in the neighborhood has widened. The Riverfront Times shares the stories of three St. Louisans who work at the intersection of Skinker and Forest Park Parkway. [Riverfront Times/Olivia Poolos]
Further reading
St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams has spoken out after two SLPS students were shot and another student died. The district spokesman said that the schools have resources, counselors, and social workers on staff to help students affected by gun violence; some SLPS schools are incorporating gun safety education into classroom curriculum. [KSDK/Pepper Baker]
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones’ office has established the City’s first LGBTQIA+ advisory board to help guide the administration’s response to far-right state officials’ increased push for discriminatory legislation. The advisory board also is tasked with creating a report that analyzes disparities impacting the LGBTQIA+ community in St. Louis. [St. Louis America/Dawn Suggs and Isaiah Peters]
St. Louis Public Radio has launched a new podcast that explores why Black families in St. Louis have been choosing to home-school their children. The series was launched to explore recent U.S. census data which found Black families leaving traditional schooling for home-schooling was five times higher than any other racial group. [St. Louis Public Radio/Marissanne Lewis-Thompson]
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.
“Police, family have different stories of how officers shot and killed teen in St. Louis,” by Dana Rieck, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“St. Louis judge hits pause on mayor’s police oversight plan,” by Austin Huguelet, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Mayor Tishaura Jones: $500 checks to low-income St. Louisans worked,” by Austin Huguelet, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“First woman of color chosen to head Missouri Women’s Political Caucus,” by Joe Holleman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
“Civil rights attorney sues St. Louis over Sunshine Law violations,” by Jacob Barker, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Legislative Update
St. Louis City Board of Aldermen
The St. Louis City Board of Aldermen currently is in recess. The Board reconvened today, September 16, 2022.
BB 26 and BB 29, sponsored by Ald. Megan Green (Ward 15), 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 and have made no further movement since.
BB 87, sponsored by Ald. Pamela Boyd (Ward 27) and Ald. Carol Howard (Ward 14), would add a new police district, raising the number to 7 total in the City of St. Louis. The bill was assigned to the Public Safety Committee on September 16.
Learn more about how a bill becomes a City ordinance.
Quote of the Week
“If there was less crime in those areas, The City’s Finest would have less business. So, there appears to me to be a conflict of interest.”
Peter Joy, law professor at Washington University