Anyone who is concerned w/ St. Louis's high murder rate should mention the fact that Missouri just passed an even more permissive gun law that Democrats & some law enforcement officials believe will have a chilling effect in combatting and investigating gun-related crime. 
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1411129262933950469
Within the U.S.--including many major cities--murder rates fluctuate from year to year. St. Louis is a case in which we can see a clear trend of increasing homicides over the course of several years. This is indeed concerning.
The majority of victims of homicide in St. Louis are Black. Democrats should not shy away from stating there is a real issue. However, we, unlike the GOP, are offering real solutions, wheres the GOP is passing legislation that will make the problem *much* worse.
Solutions include, but are not limited to: gun regulation & increased social welfare. Other solutions that both national & local Democrats should push for are: 1. community-based policing & 2. allocating more funding to crime investigation (not necessarily street cops)
The homicide solve rate in St. Louis is abysmal. ~67% of homicides went unsolved in 2020. Community-based policing has been shown to correlate w/ an increased solve rate, as well as potential long-term decreases in crime.
I'm *not* saying we need to increase a standard police presence, (i.e. street cops). I *am* saying Democrats should advocate for more money to be devoted to investigations & that such investigations should be prioritized over, say, funding the surveillance of minor drug offenses.
Finally, Democrats should advocate for rooting out racism in St. Louis police departments. This goes hand in hand w/ community-based policing. If you do that, regulate guns, & increase solve-rates, you'll have a positive effect on the murder rate.
But the GOP doesn't actually care about the murder rate. They care about using the rate to fear-monger and fuel racist propaganda. If they cared, they wouldn't be making it easier for guns to proliferate while simultaneously making it harder to combat/investigate gun crime.
Meanwhile, as you hear a lot about the murder rate in St. Louis, you'll hear less about the community-based policing model employed in Camden, NJ, which is partially credited for bringing their homicide solve rate from 55% to 93.5%
Nor will you hear about the decreasing crime rate in West Memphis, which has also been attributed to community policing as well as increased police accountability to the community msn.com/en-us/news/cri…
I think some might see my advocating for greater focus on investigation as being overly pro-police. That's not how I mean it. I share the longterm goal of decreasing police as much as possible, especially through increased social welfare & gun control
https://twitter.com/magi_jay/status/1411383323973373952
That said, it's just a fact that homicide rates are too high & they won't immediately decelerate w/ increased social welfare. That takes time. I don't think homicides should be ignored. They should be investigated.
An interim plan is to re-allocate $$ to investigation of major crime over street policing of minor offenses. 1 way to do this is to focus on community ties & accountability. This means prioritizing investigation of major crime, bringing in community liasons, & rooting out racism
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