By Jim Hoft
A Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) insider agreed to speak with Gateway Pundit confidentially. According to this Source, the public are being placed in danger because of STL Circuit Attorney (prosecutor) Kim Gardner’s ideological insanity and Mayor Tishaura Jones’ failure to take law enforcement seriously.
Gardner, one of the George Soros-funded zealot prosecutors across the nation who are ideologically dedicated to NOT prosecuting crime, was originally elected in 2017. Since then, most attorneys in her office quit in protest.
Gardner is infamous not only for her participation in the nakedly corrupt 2018 coup d’etat against then Governor Eric Greitens (among the worst stains on Missouri politics in its history) but also for maintaining a blacklist of an estimated 300 police officers.
The significance of the blacklist is that Gardner will not accept criminal case referrals from collars (arrests) made by any of the officers on that list. Pay attention to this as we start doing math in a moment. This means that if one of the blacklisted officers catches a murderer, Gardner WON’T PROSECUTE THE CRIMINAL.
Meanwhile, Mayor Tishaura Jones has refused to authorize pay increases for police to bring the City of St. Louis to parity or nearly to parity with other regional police departments. For example, St. Louis City cops can flee to St. Louis County and earn an immediate $20,000 to $30,000 pay raise. As a bonus, these police then are actually freed to pursue fleeing suspects, wear improved body armor, and be reasonably assured that their arrests and police work will lead to putting criminals behind bars – instead of destroying the region.
Gardner, along with most city leaders, trash newspaper St. Louis Post-Dispatch, mentally handicapped Representative Cori Bush, and bumbling Mayor Tishaura Jones have been fighting to outdo each other in demonizing St. Louis cops.
The result has been complete demoralization, multi-year mass resignation, staff shortages, and complete anarchy in the streets.
How bad is it? Let’s look at the numbers.
By the Police Commissioner’s own admission, a fully staffed police force consists of 1,300 officers, roughly 3 quarters of which are patrol cops who police the city’s six police districts:
(archived link: https://archive.ph/kga5L) (current link: https://www.slmpd.org/ )
However, while this is what the public is told, the truth is far worse.
In early October, Commissioner Sack sent out the following email to all police:
“We continue to face staffing shortages in our Civilian and Commissioned positions. Last year on 10/4/21 we had 905 Police Officers/ Detectives and this year on 10/3/22 we have 811 Police Officers/ Detectives. This puts a burden on us to perform our duties with fewer Officers. We must pay attention to staffing in the line platoons and on squads. No squad should have fewer than five Officers with the optimum number being seven Officers. I wish I could give you more, but this is the reality.
In light of the losses we have been experiencing, there continues to be a need to staff some positions and to fill long-vacant jobs. For example, the three area station positions have been detached Sergeants. These positions have been posted, as well as some in other specialized assignments. These positions are to clean up reassigned duties, consolidate work, and accurately portray where people are working.
I have a great deal of respect for each of you. Thank you for everything you do. It is deeply appreciated.
Sincerely,
Chief Mike Sack
According to our Source, All staff across the department are in short supply. For example, there is a shortage of radio dispatchers. Each police district is supposed to have its own radio channel, but now multiple districts are on the same channel because the department can’t fill the dispatcher roles.
Here’s the bottom line: at any given time, there might be only four (that’s right FOUR) policemen patrolling AN ENTIRE POLICE DISTRICT, driving around the city.
Bottom Line #2: At any given time (there are 3 shifts), across the ENTIRE CITY OF SAINT LOUIS, there are approximately only 50 Police Officers* at the ready across ALL six police districts. Doing some math, if the police receive roughly 1,800 emergency and non-emergency calls to respond to per day, there is no possible way for the department to respond to all calls for service.
*Note: we’re not counting detectives because, per our Source, detectives rarely ever handle radio assignments.
This means there is no such thing as proactive policing (traffic stops due to speeding, erratic driving, busted tail lights, suspected drug deals, etc.) and arrests are plummeting. Why? Because when you have to respond to hundreds of calls and write 2 dozen reports, there’s no time for traffic stops or nearly anything else.
From our Source:
“I mean, I’m sure they’re [SLMPD flaks] going to say that my numbers are wrong, and they’re going to try and say there are 20 policemen working per shift [per district], but they’re counting detectives, they’re counting Officers on different assignments where they’re not handling radio calls. And remember, during the day watch is when most Police Officers are working – basically from 8 am to 5 pm. After 5 pm, the police force numbers go down – but that’s when crime goes up, because of the darkness.”
BURNOUT
The shortage of commissioned officers is taking a heavy toll on Saint Louis cops. They are repeatedly asked to work overtime – that is, an additional 8-hour shift after completing their original 8-hour shift. To quote our Source: “Just think of the mental toll on these guys [overworked Police Officers] working as much as they do. Most guys work 7 days straight with 2 days off. The department is allowing them to hold their time off and take it next year to keep manpower up.”
COMPLETE MAYHEM
St. Louis ranks as the most unsafe city in the US.
Upon review of large swaths of social media from Saint Louis residents, it’s unbelievable. Car jackings, muggings, assaults, and other violent crime. It’s an epidemic. Unfortunately, because there is a de facto “defund the police” objective in the City of Saint Louis, crime will continue to get worse, and the public will suffer; so too will police and the families they come home to, if they’re lucky enough to come home.
This article is the first in a series Gateway Pundit series dedicated to the fall of the City of Saint Louis. The City is collapsing: crime is out of control, infrastructure is falling apart, northern Saint Louis looks like Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the local socialist media obsequiously cover for their preferred, though feckless, prosecutor, who refuses to prosecute crimes and keeps criminals* out on the streets.
*Note: the overwhelming majority of criminals do not obtain their guns lawfully, and gun control only hurts lawful gun owners and makes them vulnerable to criminals.
The post A CITY IN CRISIS: LAWLESS SAINT LOUIS, PART ONE: St. Louis Police Operating at Less than Half Strength – Not Enough Cops to Respond to 911 Calls as Crime Skyrockets appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
