In the St. Louis area, police have identified 8,671 gang members – most who range in ages 14 to 19. The youngest documented gang member is nine and the oldest is 44, said Police Detective Jerod Breit, who spoke at Attorney General Chris Koster’s Urban Crime Summit on Sept. 18, held at the Saint Louis University School of Law.
“Many of us are on the streets every day with individuals who have committed crimes repeatedly with weapons,” said Breit, a specialist in gang activity for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
The first day of the crime summit in St. Louis focused on gang violence, youth employment programs to reduce crime, and mental health resources.
After painting a general picture of gang culture and activity in St. Louis, Breit was flooded with questions from the panelists, which included Koster, St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay, St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley, St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch and Kansas City Mayor Sly James.
When Koster asked Breit what tools he needed from policy makers, Breit said there needed to be more emphasis on punishment. “It’s extremely frustrating for all our police officers and courts to see repeat offenders,” Breit said.
Koster also asked if local criminals are deterred by high, cash-only jail bonds. “Those organized gangs who participate in organized criminal activity, what we see is the ability to post bond no matter what the bond is,” Breit said.
Dooley inquired about loopholes for criminals and how to close them. Breit said some people who have been involved in gang-related crime feel safer living in smaller municipalities outside the city. Jennings is one place criminals once thought of as a safe haven, but police departments are now working together to change that.
“If our departments work together to share information, regardless of where they live, they won’t consider it a safe haven,” Breit said.
Breit also said that most young people who serve jail time don’t take their situation seriously. “The minute they are back on the street, they are literally back on the street,” he said.
Youth jobs drop crime
However, heavier sentencing for youth is not the only way to combat crime. Jonathan Davis, of University of Chicago Crime Lab, presented a study that showed that in Chicago, a summer youth employment program cut violent crime in half.
“Nothing stops a bullet like a job,” Davis said.
As part of the STL Youth Jobs, 194 youth, ages 16 to 23, have participated in a summer jobs program – an idea that came out of the Regional Youth Violence Prevention Taskforce.
Bridget Flood, executive director of Incarnate Word Foundation, said the $400,000 initiative – funded by the city and donations from various foundations and companies – helps to reduce crime and increase graduation rates. It costs $2,000 to employ one teen in the program.
The participants, who are 96 percent African-American, come from areas with high-crime rates, including Dutchtown, Tower Grove East, Gravois Park, Penrose, Baden and Mark Twain. Flood said 100 percent of the employers evaluated said it was a “good” or “very good” program.
Mental health services lacking
St. Louis Corrections Commissioner Dale Glass said 21 percent of the inmates in city jails have mental health issues and 65 percent have problems with substance abuse or addiction.
“If we can divert people from the system and put them in appropriate service needs, we can start to make a difference in mental issues and law enforcement,” Glass said.
Glass said jails are overloaded with people with addictions and mental illnesses, and the jails lack the resources to deal with them.
“We have jail cells that are being used for mental health care,” Dooley said.
The problem inevitably comes down to funding, the panelists agreed.
“People are willing to pay for jails,” St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch, “but not willing to pay for treatment centers.”
