Finding more constructive outlets for youth and expanding a violence prevention program that has shown positive results in four St. Louis neighborhoods were among the proposals St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones put forward Monday for tackling the still-too-high rate of violent crime in the Gateway City.
“If we don’t cure poverty, we’re still treating this at the symptoms [level] and we have to treat the underlying disease just like we are with COVID.” – Mayor Tishaura Jones
In a live question and answer session with The Washington Post, Jones said she is “not celebrating” a 26% drop in the 2021 homicide rate compared to a record-setting spike in 2020 – downward movement that went against patterns seen in other major cities.
Instead, she said she is looking to build on steps that already have shown promise, both among young people and more broadly in four neighborhoods that have been using a targeted violence prevention program.
“I think one of the most important things that we have to remember is a lot of the people who are committing crimes … it’s about our young people,” said Jones, who campaigned for mayor on a platform of combating violent crime while at the same time saying the “current system of policing is inefficient and ineffective.”
“How are we developing ways to really put our arms around our young people and show them a different way and [to try] to cure poverty because if we don’t cure poverty, we’re still treating this at the symptoms [level] and we have to treat the underlying disease just like we are with COVID,” she said. “We’re looking at the root causes of COVID and trying to mitigate those circumstances. We have to do the same thing when it comes to gun violence in our communities.”
The drop in homicides locally became part of a national news story on urban centers and crime.
St. Louis was listed as one of the nation’s few large cities to buck the trend of increasing homicide rates since the pandemic began.
“I would say that things are headed in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go,” Jones said. “While we are encouraged by the numbers we saw in 2021, in the first nine months of my administration, I’m not celebrating. I’m making sure that we are doubling down on the strategies that we know work and making sure that we provide a community where everyone feels safe in their neighborhood.”
One strategy would be to expand Cure Violence, an international program that places interveners in troubled neighborhoods to attempt to de-escalate potentially volatile situations.
The program, which is based in Chicago, began locally in June 2020 and now operates in three areas, which includes four neighborhoods. Three of the neighborhoods saw drops in homicides last year that eclipsed the citywide 26% decline.
In Hamilton Heights, the homicide rate dropped by 42% to seven; in Wells-Goodfellow the rate dropped by 70% to three; Walnut Park East saw homicides drop by 50% to five and Walnut Park West posted an 80% drop to three.
Each site has on average eight paid staff members including three “violence interrupters” who work to head off potentially violent encounters.
St. Louis is one of at least 20 U.S. cities participating in Cure Violence, including Kansas City, Atlanta, Milwaukee and San Antonio, according to the Cure Violence web site.
Jones said the city plans to “put $5 million not only towards expanding Cure Violence, but [also] other community violence intervention programs.”
The Department of Health is working with the mayor’s office and the Department of Public Safety on “what, where and when that expansion would look like,” said a spokesman for the health department.
Jones’ approach mirrors a national effort to go beyond bulking up police budgets in an effort to bring down crime rates.
The American Jobs Plan includes $5 billion over eight years in support of evidence-based community violence prevention programs.
In COVID funding already allocated to the city, Jones stressed the need to include funding for youth activities.
A spending package Jones approved last year, using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, included $11.5 million for violence intervention programs, youth programming and jobs.
Karen Robinson-Jacobs is The St. Louis American / Type Investigations business reporter and a Report for America corps member.
