Crime

Republican lawmakers responded with outrage by moves in Kansas City and St. Louis to reshuffle police funding.

Mayor Tishaura Jones stresses importance of looking at racial equity in surveillance programs.

Carolyn Cox discussed her book, “The Snatch Racket: The Kidnapping Epidemic That Terrorized 1930s America" and St. Louis' role as the "Kidnap Capital of America" on "St. Louis on the Air."

Lisa Montgomery is scheduled to die on Jan. 12. She faces the death penalty for one of the most heinous murders in recent Missouri history: that of pregnant Bobbie Jo Stinnett. But her lawyers point to a mountain of mitigating evidence, including years of documented abuse as a child and severe mental illness.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Nicole Galloway provides her plans on the key issues during the latest episode of Politically Speaking.

Persistence Surveillance Systems originally developed its technology for military use and now hopes to bring it to St. Louis to lower the city's crime rate. The company has been running a pilot program in Baltimore — in conjunction with the city's police department — since April. Baltimore journalist Joanne Cavanaugh Simpson discusses the results of the trial run and how residents feel about the new technology.

President Trump is campaigning on a "law and order" platform. He has blamed protesters and Democratic mayors for the uptick in violent crime this summer. But a local criminologist says Trump is wrong about the underlying causes of the increase nationwide and in St. Louis.

Jack Coatar was worried about an exodus of residents and businesses from downtown St. Louis even before the area began seeing civil unrest and a surge in crime this summer. Now the 7th Ward alderman is hearing people express more and more concerns. In an area that used to bustle with concertgoers, diners and Cardinals fans on many nights, the pandemic-driven vacuum of activity has been filled with something else entirely.

Earlier this month, when Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton announced a plan to overhaul the state’s juvenile justice system, she repeatedly used a word that stood out to ProPublica reporter Duaa Eldeib: "love." In this interview, Eldeib talks about her reporting on Illinois’ plan and how it may have been influenced by what’s known as the Missouri Model.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner cruised to victory in the city’s Democratic primary last week. Less than a week later, Gov. Mike Parson proposed legislation that would give Attorney General Eric Schmitt the ability to take over the prosecution of certain high-level felonies in St. Louis. In this episode, Gardner talks with host Sarah Fenske about Parson's proposal.