Residents of North St. Louis County communities got a chance to find out about laws and legislation affecting them, in addition to answers on where to direct police concerns, during a town hall meeting held Sunday, January 21 at Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Black Jack, pastored by Rev. Dr. Roger Richardson. The meeting was sponsored the church’s Lay Organization, St. Louis County Councilwoman Rochelle Walton Gray and her husband, state Rep. Alan Gray (D-75).
The first guest spoke on behalf of the Missouri Department of Conservation to encourage residents to find out the benefits of the department and to utilize those recreational areas. Missouri residents pay a one-eighth cent tax for those areas, which provide hunting, fishing and conservation areas. The department also publishes two free magazines, one for kids and the other geared for adults, and both are available by subscription.
Sylvia Stevenson, owner of Stevenson’s tax Service, spoke about upcoming federal tax changes going into effect next year for 2018 tax filings. Unlike tax cuts and changes for corporate taxes, Stevenson reminded attendees the changes for individual tax filings are temporary and expire in 2025.
St. Louis County Police Lieutenant Colonel Troy Doyle listened to some residents who felt they were mistreated by a responding officer, were potentially put in harm’s way after an officer arrived at their door when they reported a suspicious incident (and requested not to have an officer come to their door), or were stopped for no reason other than being a black man driving a Mercedes. Doyle apologized for their experiences and encouraged individuals to report those incidents.
“The only way we become aware is that you have to let us know those types of things,” Doyle said. “Even if you didn’t get the officer’s name or badge number, even if you give us the day and the approximate time, we can pretty much narrow it down.”
However, he also warned against confronting officers.
“Whenever you get stopped by law enforcement – let’s say, for example, that you come across a police officer that is plain old outright ignorant for whatever reason – even if you know that he or she is wrong, I still encourage you don’t challenge that officer, because your goal is to get home safe,” Doyle said. “Afterwards, we can file complaints, we can get the NAACP, we can get the clergy, get our legislature, get our people involved. But your goal is to get home safe.”
Doyle also brought residents up-to-date on upcoming county police activities, including purchasing a new computer system to track crime better, the installation of dashboard cameras, expanding bias training for police officers, and the development of a new Special Response Unit (SRU) to fight crime.
Doyle said while patrol officers respond to radio calls, the SRU will be staffed by one lieutenant, three sergeants and 24 officers from different parts of the county. “If you are stuck out on a call, you cannot actively patrol the neighborhoods,” Doyle said. “We are going to do targeted enforcement of street-level crimes; we are going to deal with a lot of quality-of-life issues, and we are going to target persistent offenders who negatively impact the community.”
Doyle said the SRU will target that small percentage of individuals who are causing the most harm. Unit staff will work various times and various shifts, depending on what is going on at the time, and will work from four tenets: prediction, prevention, pursuit, and partnerships.
“Proactive patrols of high-crime areas, working with other investigative units within the police departments, conducting various surveillance and sting operations in the community” are the techniques Doyle said the SRU will use.
Doyle said he is planning to meet with clergy in North County to find areas of collaboration and that county police is also creating a Community Advisory Board.
St. Louis County Police Captain Guy Means discussed laws pertaining to carrying knives, firearms and having controlled substances. He also talked about who can carry firearms and places where you cannot carry. That includes airports, sports arenas, hospitals, police stations, within 25 feet of polling sites on Election Day, detention facilities, courthouses, in government meetings, places that serve liquor, child care facilities, schools, riverboat gaming operations, churches and places of religious worship, and on private property, if posted.
After the police presentation, Jeanette Mott Oxford, executive director of social justice organization Empower Missouri, informed residents of state initiatives that should be on their radar. That included SB 561, a state Senate bill that would establish work requirements for people in order to receive food stamps.
“I am not saying you shouldn’t work; people should work if they can. But the problem is, people that are poor enough to get food stamps often have lives that are so complicated – trying to take care of utility disconnection notices, trying to get around without their own transportation – it’s just lots of challenges,” Mott Oxford said. “They may have an exception that may mean they should not be cut off from food stamps, but there will be mistakes made and people will lose their food stamps who really need them, and that impacts everybody that’s in the whole household, including the kids.”
She also talked about the Real ID, how to get a photo identification, which is required to vote in the state, and about record expungement.
“If you should have trouble voting, memorize the number 866-OUR-VOTE (687-8683). That’s the voter protection number for Missouri,” Mott Oxford said.
She said the Secretary of State’s office is the resource to help voters obtain proper voter identification.
“If you know anyone who doesn’t have a photo ID, the state is supposed to help pay for them to get one,” Mott Oxford said. “Make them aware that they are going to need a photo ID in the future and help them walk through the process, because that’s one of the issues. There’s a lot of people out there that have big challenges in taking care of getting their photo ID.”
She used obtaining their birth certificate as an example.
“These days, you need your birth certificate in order to get your photo ID,” she said. “They may need some help with that, and the state is supposed to help pay for the expenses of that. Call up the Secretary of State’s office and tell them we need some help getting this straightened out so this person can get their photo ID.”
Contact Secretary of State John R. Ashcroft’s office by phone at (573) 751-4936 or email info@sos.mo.gov. Voters can find out more information and request help obtaining a free photo ID at https://s1.sos.mo.gov/voteridhelp.
Related to expungement, Mott Oxford said SB 588 passed in 2017, which created the ability for people to get crimes expunged from their record, which can help job seekers, or professional licensing, for example. It went into effect on January 1.
“It allows the person who was arrested but not sentenced to apply for expungement. It allows a person to petition over the course of a lifetime, for the expungement of records for any number of infractions,” Mott Oxford said. “If you have a bunch of parking tickets or small, low-level things, you can get those taken off your record. She said that “two misdemeanor offenses or ordinance violations that carry jail time and no more than one felony offense” may be expunged.
Previously, people had to wait 20 years for a felony offense and 10 years for misdemeanors before they could petition for expungement.
“Now it’s going to be three years for the low-level infractions or the misdemeanors and seven years for felonies,” Mott Oxford said. “It costs $250 for the petition to get the expungement made, but the judge may waive the surcharge if the petitioner is indigent. So, if you can’t afford $250, you don’t have to give up on this idea; you’ll just have to let them know that ‘I have a hardship against this’ and make a case for it.”
The discussion was moderated by Spanish Lake Committeeman Tony Weaver and state Rep. Jay Mosley (D-68).
