ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Gunshots being fired into downtown buildings is a problem that Alderman Jack Coatar says is getting worse. So far this year, he says windows have been shot out at Peabody Energy, the One Metropolitan Square building, U.S. Bank and Laclede Gas.
"It's terrifying," Coatar says. "I mean if you're sitting at your desk in one of these high-rise buildings and your window gets shot out you'd be scared for your life. And if you're a leader of a major company that's based downtown, at some point you have to say, 'I need to protect my workforce. My workforce needs to feel safe coming to the office.'"
Coatar says the Mayor needs to flood Downtown with more police to make it safe again.
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"The first thing we need to do is make sure everyone understands downtown is a safe place to be and you do that by flooding it with police officers," Coatar says. "I don't know of another way in the short term to say downtown is safe other than to put more cops on the street."
The St. Louis police department has been plagued with staffing shortages of more than 100 police officers for the past couple years. This week, Police Chief John Hayden announced his retirement after 35 years with the department and four years at his position.
Coatar says companies are threatening to leave, and the city can't afford to have a "domino effect" of big employers pulling out. New tenant Square, in the former St. Louis Post-Dispatch building just north of downtown temporarily closed its offices after a murder took place outside the building.
Mayor Tishaura Jones spokesman says they're working on a public safety plan for downtown, but no details are yet available.
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