St. Louis police stats for most of 2022 have been trending toward a drop in homicides. But August has put the city on an unwanted path.
The St. Louis Police Department has reported 20 murders in August, roughly one per day. At the current rate, homicides would surpass last year's final total of 199. According to the most recent statistics, there have been 125 so far this year.
City leaders are hoping for a second straight year of declines but the current trend will need to be reversed. There was a huge drop in murders from 2020 to 2021 – 26 percent – but that's because in 2020, St. Louis had by far its most homicides since the mid-90s (263).
The increase in murders comes at a time when local police say they're stretched thin. St. Louis Police Officers Association President Jay Schroeder estimated the department is short 230 officers, a combination of people leaving over better pay and other issues and Mayor Tishaura Jones cutting the number of positions.
For her part, Jones recently pointed to a regional business study suggesting the number of officers isn't the problem. It's how they're deployed.
"And so we have been looking at our deployment strategies, along with the Center for Policing Equity, to make sure we can deploy our officers in a smarter way," Jones said at a press conference.
Jones has also said the city can't leave it all up to the police department. Earlier this year, when the Washington Post asked her about last year's drop in homicides, Jones said citizens and community groups must be part of the process.
"We are trying to be smart about crime and deploying the right resource to the right call," said Jones. "We're also working with our community partners – the Urban League, the Organization for Black Struggle, Cure Violence – and other community organizations because this is an all-hands-on-deck approach."
A department policy this summer required officers to work 12-hour shifts. There hasn't been any correlation between that decision and the murder statistics, but St. Louis police pointed out that crime overall fell in both June and July. The 12-hour shift rule is going away Aug. 28, a month earlier than originally planned.
According to the statistics, nearly all of this year's murders have been shootings. The department claims a 54 percent clearance rate, meaning a little over the half the cases they consider solved.
Click here to see a breakdown of the homicide statistics, including locations, victim and suspect profiles and known motives.
