As the City of St. Louis enters into a new budget year, an important aspect the city’s continued growth and vitality is its downtown – where businesses, tourists, sports fans and residents all converge. Sustaining a bustling and safe downtown is paramount. Therefore, guaranteeing public safety commands our immediate attention.
Annual city budgets have their limitations and constraints. The city must find innovative ways to fund its critical public safety needs. We have an urgent need to do more crime prevention and intervention. Recent high profile acts of violence give a perception that violent crimes are on the increase in downtown St. Louis. As we know, perception is often reality; therefore, we need a regional solution – and we must act now.
Our current budget should reflect our intentions to do all that we can to combat crime, but it falls short because of the lack of available revenues to fund this effort more effectively. We cannot do it alone. We must find partners throughout the region to support and fund public safety that is critical for deterring crime in the city.
I’m calling on all city leaders to act now and contribute more of the revenues generated from their operations to help crime prevention efforts in the city. In addition to city leaders, we need the support of stakeholders from throughout the region as partners, both public and private, to fight violent crimes.
The timing couldn’t be better for making the case for a Crime Prevention Fund. The city budget allocations are already dedicated to infrastructure, police, fire and community-building. Because downtown St. Louis is a regional asset, the new fund will have its own dedicated source of revenue that flows from throughout the region. Let’s do it!
