St. Louis/ Politics & Govt
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Published on October 02, 2024
St. Louis Reports Significant Drop in Violent Crime with Lowest Homicide Rate in a DecadeSource: Google Street View

St. Louis city officials and police leadership are reporting a notable decline in violent crime, a trend that Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Police Chief Robert Tracy say is a sign of progress amidst ongoing efforts to stem violence in the city. According to the latest quarterly report released by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the number of homicides has dropped by approximately 40% since Mayor Jones took office in April 2021, with homicides hitting their lowest numbers in nearly a decade, FOX 2 Now reports.

In a quarterly briefing, Jones acknowledged the positive trajectory, stating on FOX 2 Now, "I am encouraged by our continued progress to make St. Louis safer," yet affirming the necessity to remain focused as even one life lost to gun violence is too many, the city isn't yet in a place to celebrate, as pointed out by Tracy there's a worrying slight uptick in shooting incidents which they are monitoring closely, this information was relayed in a statement obtained by Spectrum Local News. Overall crime is down 18%, with a particular emphasis on homicide cases which are at 116 so far in 2024, compared to 126 at the same point in 2023, a further reduction from the previous years cataloging 154 and 147 respectively in 2022 and 2021.

The drop in crime comes at a crucial juncture as St. Louis heads towards elections that may reshape the future of the police department amidst debates on department control and staffing. Tracy highlighted positive developments, such as salary increases for officers, state legislators repealing residency requirements for police, and a more proactive approach in recruitment, yet still the department remains about 300 officers short of its budgeted force, despite the fact that 23 officers who initially left the department for other agencies have since returned to the fold, as they become part of this family, Tracy said, "This is a good place to work," his sentiment echoed in remarks documented by Spectrum Local News.

Yet, while these numbers frame a narrative of improvement, the perception of crime in St. Louis may lag behind the statistics, as Saint Louis University Professor of Demography and Sociology Ness Sándoval points out, "St. Louis City, even though crime is coming down, it still has too much crime for the size of the city at 281,000," equating St. Louis crime rates to those of much larger cities such as Chicago, Houston, and Dallas, according to Sándoval's comparisons discussed in an interview with KSDK.