Following the police shooting death of Michael Brown in August 2014, there was a flurry of activity surrounding police and municipal court reform, as a well as public safety. Those efforts spilled over into 2015, which saw some changes come to St. Louis and St. Louis County.
On Tuesday’s “St. Louis on the Air,” we discussed the year’s biggest public safety, courts and police news with St. Louis Public Radio reporter Rachel Lippmann, who has been covering these issues for several years.
Here’s some of what we discussed:
- Police reform: where will the county legislation go, what’s been done, what’s going to be next?
- Crime, gun control, public safety, and Board of Aldermen legislation relating to that
- Municipal court reform
- The Department of Justice's reports on civil rights in the region
"The biggest thing and the one that will continue to have the most ripple effects into 2016 and beyond, was the release of two Department of Justice's civil rights reports," said Lippmann. "We had the one everyone expected of the Ferguson police department. And then we had the one that I didn't know as many people were paying attention to — and that was the one with the St. Louis County juvenile justice system. It found a lot of built-in conflicts of interest in the system, a lack of representation and bias, which was also found in the report for the Ferguson Police Department."
And what will be the top story of 2016 for Lippmann?
"The Circuit Attorney's race in the City of St. Louis — it is going to be a very interesting primary in August," she said.
"St. Louis on the Air" discusses issues and concerns facing the St. Louis area. The show is produced by Mary Edwards, Alex Heuer and Kelly Moffitt and hosted by veteran journalist Don Marsh. Follow us on Twitter and join the conversation at @STLonAir.
