The trend of receding crime in the city of St. Louis continued in January, as did the effort to seize control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department by state legislators.
In 2024, according to police statistics, the city recorded an 11-year low in homicides.
There was a continuation in the decrease in violent and property crimes in January of 2025, with the number of homicides committed – a 55% reduction compared to January of 2024.
“Each life lost or affected by crime is one too many, so these continued improvements encourage us to keep the momentum going,” said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said in a release.
“We will keep building a safer St. Louis with the help of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Circuit Attorney’s Office, the Office of Violence Prevention, and our community partners. I invite legislators in Jefferson City to take a look at this month’s report and the data available on our police department’s website.”
According to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) January report, available at slmpd.org/stats, there were nine homicides in the City in January 2025, down from 20 in the same period last year.
Crimes of other categories were down, as well: rape (down 73%), aggravated assault (down 10%), and simple assault (down 9%). Overall, violent crime was down 12.6% in January 2025 compared to January 2024.
According to a police release, property crime was down 33.7% overall, with some of the most significant decreases being seen in motor vehicle theft (down 42%), theft from motor vehicle (down 28%), and burglary/breaking and entering (down 34%).
There were increases in shoplifting and carjacking – 10% and 38%, respectively. Crimes against society, which include such crimes as narcotic violations and disorderly conduct, were down 30.4%.
State Sen. Karla May, a vocal opponent of a state takeover of the St. Louis police force, warned on her legislative website, “Although city taxpayers would continue to be responsible for funding the agency, they would have no say through their local elected representatives in how it operates.”
May also sounded an alarm that a pair of bills which are being debated would impose fines of $1,000 per occurrence on city officials who resist state control, as well as a lifetime ban on them ever again holding elected office.
During a hearing on Tuesday in Jefferson city on a wide-ranging crime bill, May scolded Republicans for saying they want to take politics out of the police department.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that May said, “You’re talking about taking politics out, no you’re adding politics in.”