Editor's note: This story is from the April 2019 issue of St. Louis Magazine.
Graphic by Tom White
The total crimes committed in all neighborhoods in St. Louis in 2018 is 23,857. This is down 6 percent from 2017, when total crimes equaled 25,404.
“There is this conception of the city as crime-ridden throughout,” says University of Missouri–St. Louis criminology professor Richard Rosenfeld. Take a look at the homicide rate, which ranks at or near the top among U.S. cities each year, he says, and it can convey a message that the violent crime risk is the same everywhere here. Rosenfeld’s research says otherwise: “It’s very high in a few neighborhoods on the north side, and in and around Dutchtown, and hardly anywhere else.” So how should St. Louisans look at the city’s crime data, which reported a 6 percent decrease in total crime overall last year? We took the five neighborhoods with the highest total crime numbers in 2018 and broke down property versus person crime, population, and crime per capita. SLM also talked with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and local associations about what’s being done to combat crime. One more thought from the police: “When an area is more populated or popular, there is a higher potential for crime to occur and for that crime to be reported,” says Officer Michelle Woodling.
Central West End
1,235 total crimes, up from 1,208 in 2017
151 total person crimes
1,084 total property crimes
14,471 population (2010)
8.53 crimes per 100 people
“We know that our neighborhood is competing for police resources just like other neighborhoods,” says Jim Whyte of the Central West End Neighborhood Security Initiative. Taxpayers fund about 3,000 supplemental patrols every year, and in 2018, the initiative gave police video evidence that resulted in 70 arrests, up from 54 the previous year.
Tower Grove South
732 total crimes, down from 804 in 2017
144 total person crimes
588 total property crimes
13,333 population (2010)
5.49 crimes per 100 people
“Even though crime is down a little bit, we still have a high percentage of crime in our area, so we can’t let up and we have to be vigilant,” says Ryan Barry of the Tower Grove Heights Neighborhood Association. The neighborhood is in constant contact with police and raised $8,000 for surveillance cameras.
Dutchtown
1,134 total crimes, down from 1,294 in 2017
310 total person crimes
824 total property crimes
15,770 population (2010)
7.19 crimes per 100 people
A new Crime Reduction Zone in Dutchtown will mirror the Hayden’s Rectangle approach taken in North St. Louis, which saw an 18 percent drop in crime by the end of 2018.
Carondelet
850 total crimes, up from 694 in 2017
155 total person crimes
695 total property crimes
8,661 population (2010)
9.81 crimes per 100 people
Angel Tutt of the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation says that the neighborhood hosts meetings and police-in-community events. Cameras or supplemental patrols like Tower Grove South and the CWE? “Those neighborhoods, their household incomes are double, triple what ours are,” she says. “Those aren’t things we can do.”
Downtown
1,484 total crimes, down from 1,521 in 2017
176 total person crimes
1,308 total property crimes
3,721 population (2010)
39.88 crimes per 100 people
The second of the new 2019 Crime Reduction Zones. Police Chief John Hayden is focusing resources on combating car break-ins, carjackings, and aggravated assaults.
