In 2019, St. Louis County Executive Sam Page restarted a long-dormant crime commission — but meetings were quickly halted due to the pandemic. Now, those meetings have returned, with the first one taking place last week.
Yolanda Austin, mayor of the city of Jennings, is on the committee serving the spot of the elected municipal official. She told KMOX what the committee hopes to accomplish, and what she learned from their first meeting.
"I know that we have a lot of problems going on across the county. And I heard that we have things that are in place, and me as an elected official, I just wanted to be able to share those things with the other municipalities, because St. Louis County is made up of unincorporated, along with other municipalities," Austin said. "And I just wanted to make sure that I am at the table so that I can be able to share those with others."
The crime commission will work closely with the St. Louis County Police; Austin has seen the police department up close, being mayor since 2017 and serving on the city council for eight years.
"I saw how our police department was before. And I'm very much satisfied with the police department that we have with the contract with St. Louis County," she said. She added that Jennings is adding in a crime portal that encourages residents to report non-emergency concerns.
"One thing is the community, they feel that they're kind of afraid to voice their opinion about things but here in the city of Jennings, we want to make sure that they feel comfortable with reporting things. So that crime portal is very important." They've also initiated a Ring camera program, and have started 12 hour shifts for police officers.
Austin said the commission is also focusing on the county jail, and improving the juvenile system.
"We need to look at what they're doing with the juveniles when they're coming in and releasing them right away. So we're looking to see what the plan is for that," she said. "We also talked about mental health issues that are going on across the nation, across the county, and looking at different diffusion centers, things that we can do with mental health."
Hear more from Jennings Mayor Yolanda Austin on the St. Louis County crime commission:
Copyright 2023 KMOX (Audacy). All Rights Reserved.
Follow KMOX | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Listen on the free Audacy app.
Tell your smart speaker to play K M O X.
