Fighting crime in this city is hard. So is fighting racism. Some black cops in the St. Louis Police Department say they fight both.
Imagine being shot at by suspects, coming within a hair of losing your life, only to experience promotion discrimination and pay disparity compared to your white counterparts.
“The police department is worse than the fire department,” said Eddie Simmons Jr., president of the Ethical Society Of Police (ESOP), a fraternal organization for black cops.
Of 82 lieutenants, 67 are white and 15 black, Simmons said. There are 200 white sergeants and 47 African Americans. There are only three black captains.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department uses the same testing company as the city’s fire department, according to Simmons.
“I’m embarrassed to say I’m on the force with these black cops saying we got it good,” said Simmons.
He said that racism is rampant within the department.
“We got white boys who can’t stand blacks,” he said.
Simmons said he’s tired and often thinks about quitting and probably would, if it wasn’t for his family. But he refuses to be run over. He said his family fears his termination because of his candor about problems in the department.
“I need my job, but I’m not going to let anyone ride rough-shod me,” he said.
City murder toll passes
Though a new police anti-crime unit hit the streets in January, the city has already exceeded last year’s murder rate of 106.
As of Nov. 7, city police had recorded 108 homicides. On that same day last year there were 104.
In St. Louis’s inner city, where homicides happen nearly every week, a kill-or-be-killed mindset has evolved and the concept of retaliation rules on the streets. Getting the police involved is grounds for being call a punk or a snitch.
Still, police involvement is more or less reactive. Many people are still calling for proactive program from the mayor’s office.
In 2003 Prop P passed, an initiative that the mayor said would help curb crime. However, the proposition only called for two recreation plexes – one on the North Side, the other on the South Side.
‘Cop-assisted suicide’
Several times this year, police reports have said that a suspect pointed a gun (but didn’t shoot) at a police officer.
“Suspects who point guns at police officer are trying to bluff their way out and hope that a cop will dive for cover,” said UM-St. Louis criminologist David Klinger, a former Los Angeles police officer.
Though questionable, Klinger also said a suspect could be trying to commit “cop-assisted suicide.”