On June 29 at Life Center International Church of God In Christ the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition (SLMCC) met for a press conference with civic officials and community activists including Mayor Lyda Krewson, Director of Public Safety Judge Jimmie M. Edwards, St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden, James Clark of Better Family Life, and more.
The Clergy, civic leaders and activists gathered to address the growing crime epidemic and to encourage the St. Louis Community to help in the reduction of crime by holding their fellow citizens accountable.
“What is it that has caused our society to deteriorate to the point that nothing is sacred and that people are fearful even to speak up,” asked Bishop Elijah H. Hankerson III, President of the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition. “The answer is a loss of a sense of community, but as clergy we do believe that we are our brother’s keeper.”
There are three things that the clergy wants every St. Louis faith leader and community member to do in efforts toward the call of crime reduction; encourage their parishioners to get involved in block units, utilize crime stoppers which is a service that helps keep crime held accountable, and encouraging all citizens to be active in a faith tradition of their choice.
Crime Stoppers is the gap between being a witness to a crime and not saying anything. They give the information of anonymous tips directly to the law enforcement agency that needs it or the officer that is dealing with that crime. They have been keeping their tips anonymous for 13 years, and if the information helps make an arrest in any case the board will vote on a cash reward from $100 to $1,000. If the tip helps solve a homicide case, the anonymous tipper can receive up to $5,000.
“Faith in god is the proven moral compass of our society. It is at the church that you learn thou shall not steal, thou shall not kill, do onto others as you would have them do unto you, it is even at the church that you learn love your neighbor as you love yourself,” Hankerson said.
The additional speakers outside of the clergy coalition to speak on how working together will reduce the crime in their community included Mayor Krewson, Judge Edwards, Civic official Steven Roberts, and Community Leader of Better Family Life James Clark.
“We have an alignment right now that St. Louis has never had before. We have the corporate community weighing in, we have law enforcement leadership weighing in, we have political leadership weighing in, and now we have the bedrock of our community the church once again leading the cause,” Clark said. “St. Louis we are about to resurrect ourselves like never before.”
If you have an anonymous tip to a crime and would care to speak up you can call crime stoppers at 1-866-371-8477 or visit http://stlrcs.org/.
*Correction: in an earlier version of this story, James Clark was erroneously named as founder of Better Family Life. Better Family Life was founded by Malik and Deborah Ahmed. We regret the error.
Ashley Jones is an Emma Bowen Foundation editorial intern at The St. Louis American, supported by a grant from the Democracy Fund.
