Feds Called in to Curb Eastside St. Louis Crime

[Dusty]

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/08/...astside-crime/

EAST ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOX) - The public housing complexes on the east side of the river might just be the deadliest places in the country, but efforts are underway to secure the area.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is bringing in federal law enforcement to help state and local authorities crack down on crime. Figures show that East St. Louis is nearly twice as dangerous as even the worst streets in Chicago.

“You will find that the crime rate here is the worst in the nation,” Durbin says. “The club scene in East St. Louis is a crime scene.”

Durbin says that although the public housing complexes are managed federally, their problems come from local sources.

“You cannot have this club scene turn out to be the wild west, where innocent people are victimized by it, no matter what the revenue is to the city of East St. Louis,” he says. “And you can’t open liquor stores on every corner near housing developments and expect good things to come if you’re open all night.”

Durbin says the responsibility is on city leaders’ shoulders to change the public housing situation.

Sister Julia Huiaskamp has tutored many kids in the area, and she says opportunities are few.

“We have many, many children who have been cheated by the public schools system here, who do not have the skills they need to get a job, even if there were any jobs to find,” Huiaskamp says.

She also says the problem extends beyond just kids.

“We have so many parents of the children that we work with who have no cash income – their only income is food stamps,” Huiaskamp says.

Durbin says the poverty is a longer-term problem, and for now efforts will focus on tracking down and prosecuting criminals.

East St. Louis public housing is home to 800 people, and the developments have seen ten killings in the past decade.

Copyright KMOX Radio.

? Then, where do the get the money to frequent the all-night liquor stores?

[Richard]

Originally Posted by Dusty

? Then, where do the get the money to frequent the all-night liquor stores?

Recycling crushed aluminum beer cans.

Richard

[Sdiver]

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is bringing in federal law enforcement to help state and local authorities crack down on crime.

One of the three greatest LIES ever told ..... "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

The other two being ....

The check is in the mail ....

and

We can still be friends ....

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Richard

Recycling crushed aluminum beer cans.

Richard

In that case, shouldn't the Feds do a study to ensure they're being fairly compensated for the crushed cans and not cheated as the children are by the public school system and The Man in general?

[1stindoor]

I was just explaining to my kids last night at dinner how it's not uncommon to see someone buy a cart filled with junk food with food stamps (SNAP Card) and then turn around and hand over a couple of $20's for their beer.

[JimP]

East St Louis is seriously jacked up. I live at Scott AFB, about 25 minutes from there. Had the wife and kids downtown one night eating at "PI" - pizza joint, when the place went nuts. Our young urban brethren of East St Louis had infiltrated the DelMar loop and decided to riot on the way down from the college. Apparently this is a fairly frequent occurrence. Thankfully, I was able to get the wife and kids into a wall and the "disaffected youth" must have thought it better to go and screw with someone else....

Freakin' savages.

[steel71]

The damage has been done, and there are no easy answers. The government offering free benefits contingent on a man not living in the house, was (is) a recipe for disaster.

[BOfH]

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

I was just explaining to my kids last night at dinner how it's not uncommon to see someone buy a cart filled with junk food with food stamps (SNAP Card) and then turn around and hand over a couple of $20's for their beer.

My favorite is the lady who just paid for her groceries at Stop and Shop with a WIC EBT card and is later loading them into a brand spankin new, fully loaded C class while her husband is following the guy from the neighboring liquor store wheeling a hand truck loaded with cases of Remy Martin and Chivas.

[dr. mabuse]

Originally Posted by JimP

East St Louis is seriously jacked up. I live at Scott AFB, about 25 minutes from there. Had the wife and kids downtown one night eating at "PI" - pizza joint, when the place went nuts. Our young urban brethren of East St Louis had infiltrated the DelMar loop and decided to riot on the way down from the college. Apparently this is a fairly frequent occurrence. Thankfully, I was able to get the wife and kids into a wall and the "disaffected youth" must have thought it better to go and screw with someone else....

Freakin' savages.

I can recall gentler times passing through East St. Louis on the way to a quite, pleasant little town in the country called Lebanon.

They try that crap around here they should seriously bring some body bags.

[Richard]

East St Louis has long been a study in failed urbanization - we studied it in Professor Christoph's class as a model of what not to do when I was in grad school at IU in 1989.

Richard

[Oldrotorhead]

East St. Louis has been a toilet for decades and no amount of money has yet to fix it. I have a prediction, the Feds. will come in, they will spend truck loads of money and when or if they leave nothing will be fixed.
I have a couple of ideas. No alcohol, drugs or tobacco products allowed in public housing. If you commit a crime you are evicted, and if you get arrested and convicted you are then charged with child neglect and the kids are removed from the house along with your welfare check.

[plato]

Originally Posted by Dusty

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is bringing in federal law enforcement to help state and local authorities crack down on crime. Figures show that East St. Louis is nearly twice as dangerous as even the worst streets in Chicago.

That's a change. In the mid-late 70's many federal agencies stopped sending their agents to do investigations in "the projects" of East St. Louis because the PD there refused to send uniformed officers along. They stated that the projects were too dangerous. Of course, a civilian-looking lone agent would have been horsemeat.

I wanna see it happen.

[ZonieDiver]

My first visit through East St. Louis (t hat I remember) was in the mid-50's, on my way from my bucolic home in Mt. Vernon, Illinois to "the big city of St. Louis, pre-Arch. It seems little has changed, at least for the better.

Then, there is this - from the '80's - to reinforce the point:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRJnEbt89w8

[JimP]

dr. mabuse - Lebanon is one of my favorite little towns. You are right - they wouldn't last long there. Great area around here except for the fact that it is ruled by the "thug-ocracy" of Chicago; and - its proximity to the thugs in East St Louis.

[afchic]

Originally Posted by Oldrotorhead

East St. Louis has been a toilet for decades and no amount of money has yet to fix it. I have a prediction, the Feds. will come in, they will spend truck loads of money and when or if they leave nothing will be fixed.
I have a couple of ideas. No alcohol, drugs or tobacco products allowed in public housing. If you commit a crime you are evicted, and if you get arrested and convicted you are then charged with child neglect and the kids are removed from the house along with your welfare check.

The thing I hate most about east stl is that they are in the same county I am. Ojr property taxes in St Clair are absolutely rediculous. They take from those of us further east and give it to the scum bags in east stl. It is deplorable!