Mokwa did a great job bringing the record murders of 267 down to only 73 in 2003. The murder rate is still down compared to the pre-Mokwa years even though the percentages have risen from his rcord low. Good job Chief!

Well, it makes sense the numbers have dropped given the number of residents have dropped as well.

In 1990 we had another 50K people in the city. I’d be curious to see the number of murders as a percentage of the population — has that decreased, increased or stayed level?

The number of murders and violent crimes has dropped across the country; St. Louis’ rate followed that trend–until recently. How much of this increase (or decrease) can we hold Mokwa responsible for? What has he done to influence those statistics? Would these numbers hold true regardless of who was the police chief?

Most of this is black on black crime. The black community is taking steps, but must keep on working to own these issues and manage them, Mokwa, Slay, etc, can’t fix it…. the community has too.

Mokwa is an idiot who lost 40K from the evidence locker. Yet we say he’s though on crime because he manages to chase down a criminal in his upscale neighborhood. That is simply bullshit. He should be fired. The next Chief, and the entire department, should be accountable to the Mayor thus the people of the City of St. Louis.

When North Side aldermen are getting beat down you know that there is a disparity in the crime problem. There is obviously an entrenched mentality regarding policing priorities. I’ve witnessed some screwed up things myself while being on the North Side. Apparently being white makes one a suspect! The criminals are not being caught while honest citizens are harassed. I wonder what it’s like to live in, rather than visit, these areas!

the numbers is 2003 were at a 40 year low……once again, french, you fail to put things into their proper perspective

crime in 2007 was at a 20 year low

Hey French, how come you have bloged about the FBI stating that the hanging monkey was placed there by an African-American and was NOT a hate crime??

The St. Louis Community it-self as a whole will and can impact murder, robbery and drug statistics in the City of St. Louis.
The Chief of Police Mokwa as one man or a platoon of police Officers cannot impact crime as much as a Small High School Vocational and Technical Career Center as proposed in the form of Harriet Tubman High School and Career Center; currently being considered before the Elected School Board and the Special Administrative Board.
A Career Center located at a site at 4275 Clarence (formerly DeAndres) would positively impact 2008’s crime stats-
I guaratee it-
Bill Monroe
Parents, Drop-Outs- High School Students please attend SAB Board meetings and support Harriet Tubman, A True Crime Fighter
Euducation + Skills Training =Success
Help us make February a true Black History Month.
Support This Community Effort

This city is still at war with itself, working hard to drive Northsiders out. 6,000 city owned buildings is at the heart of the problem. The LRA land holdings is a direct link to the location of the murders. I am at war with my alderman who is a slay man. If I win I get to work and live in the city. He wins I am forced to take a buyout at 35 to 40 percent below market rate.

LRA property is forfeited to the city by those who dont’ pay their taxes….so to say that this blighted property is lra owned is a little misleading

it’s not like the city is out buying this property….it is abandoned to them

Every month the LRA turns down legitimate offers from city residents for land and buildings in the name of “land banking” for some future large-scale development which hasn’t happened in 30 years. The LRA is making neighborhoods worse. The LRA is 10 times worse than Paul McKee!!!

NOT true! LRA property is down from 6 years ago when Francis Slay became. That is because the City is doing a good job of putting development packages together in north city. There are investments in north city that hasn’t seen investment in over 50 years

In 2006 the LRA received 294 properties while selling 316 in FY06, thus only a net sale of 22 properties. Using these 2006 fiscal year numbers, at this rate it would take the LRA almost 520 years to expel its 11,478 parcels and buildings to the private sector.

The LRA is highly ineffective and not doing a good job. Slay and the Board of Aldermen are jointly responsible. They both complain but do not lobby for reform. They are simply making excuses whether by using conspiracies or simply by saying “its not our fault, we have been shit upon.” Both are true, yet they can’t be an excuse thus protecting a failed agency from scrutiny.

I would suggest that the Black Clegy, the black caucus, the black knights of the roundtable, etc. go preach to their people about violence and crimes and quit blabbering about the former fire department deputy chief who QUIT and trying to make him some prophet. He’s not MLK he’s not X, he’s Sherman George. A man who stood for disobeying orders. What a man to be the grand marshall of a parade or man of the year. Good role model.

Oh by the way Frenchie, did you hear that monkey up at the 13’s, WASN’T A HATE CRIME!!!! Just as many people said. Keep crying wolf and nobody will come to you. HAHA

I think it’s shocking that to get attention the black community will conjur up anything, no matter how bizzare it is, and no matter who they use, just to make a story for everyone to believe it is true. It is truly sad and all I can say is to try and obtain some counseling or seek some sort of medical treatment. Sad Sad.

Im Jim Rome and I am out!
SALAMI!!!

LRA properties need specific incentives pointed directly at them. Incentives come from our local proposals. None have been made that I’ve ever heard of. How is anything expected to change on this front? These properties should be the first to be tackled in the name of stabilization.

How are the percentages on killers caught vs. got away with it?

The gun buyback seemed like a good program just before Christmas. Hopefully that will have some effect on the killings this year. The # of guns that are loose on the street has DIRECT signifigance, in that there at least 90% more guns out there than there were … damn, just 2 years ago? Root cause?

Is LRA a platform issue for the mayor’s race in 2009? does this 50 inventory of houses really create blight and decline? I am looking for an answer not trying to be a wiseguy.

so doug duckworth was a victim of racial profiling!

want to have some fun? check out http://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/base/welcome.do
and look at the criminal and eviction records of the “leaders” leading sherman george’s boycott