New report outlines public safety, economy moves St. Louis needs to make

ST. LOUIS - Change for STL, a nonprofit supporting Mayor Cara Spencer's transition, released a wide-ranging transition advisory report last month with key recommendations to improve public safety, strengthen the economy and address other citywide priorities.

The 62-page report, released just ahead of the mayor's 100th day in office, outlines short-term, mid-term and long-term recommendations from her transition advisory team, along with guidance on how they align with disaster recovery effort following the devastating May 16 tornado.

The recommendations are based on discussions from the transition advisory team, along with public input shared with Change for STL.

Here's a closer look at recommendations for St. Louis public safety and the St. Louis economy.

Public Safety

SHORT-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

• Hold an emergency officer recruitment and retention drive
• Improve emergency management
• Reactivate intersection camera enforcement
• Deploy additional mobile SkyCop units
• Move forward with improvements to the Justice Center
• Expand youth violence intervention programs
• Create a public safety board or commission

The report highlights a need to recruit 200 officers and 30 civilian dispatchers to be more adequately equipped for emergency response and day-to-day public safety operations. It calls for expanded hiring incentives, retention bonuses and community job fairs to help meet the city's staffing goals.

Additionally, the report suggests hiring "dedicated emergency management" to implement warning systems, while strengthening communication systems and emergency operations plans, priorities that came into focus after the May 16 tornado.

The report notes that driving and red-light violations have surged in recent years and suggests that reactivating a red-light traffic enforcement system could help curb issues and be done with privacy safeguards in mind. The SkyCop system, meanwhile, would deploy mobile surveillance units in areas where police presence is limited.

To reduce youth violence, the report recommends expanding the outreach to at-risk youth, proposing programs that include art therapy with police officers, summer activities and mentorship opportunities.

The report also supports the creation of a new public safety board to provide oversight and monitor the implementation of crime-reduction initiatives.

Finally, there's a renewed focus on improving conditions at the St. Louis City Justice Center. Suggested upgrades include addressing overcrowding, enhancing security, and expanding access to rehabilitation, education and job training programs for detainees.

MID-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

• Expand co-responder mental health and crisis intervention services
• Redesign streets for pedestrian safety

The report mentions that embedding social workers with police across all districts can help with 24/7 crisis intervention and divert behavioral health calls from police where possible.

It further notes that redesigning city streets for pedestrian safety could mean lowering speed limits, improving lighting and crossings and implementing more traffic calming measures. It also suggests ending plea bargains for major moving violations and introducing income-adjusted fine schedules.

LONG-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

• Reform SLMPD governance and oversight
• Create a regional criminal justice data consortium

After Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe approved a plan to shift control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department from the mayor's office to a state board, the report suggests pursuing legislation to return to local control and creating civilian oversight bodies and reform of elected law enforcement positions.

The report also seeks a long-term data consortium to centralize and share crime data across agencies for evidence-based decision making. Proposed changes also include a chief data officer and public-facing crime dashboards.

DISASTER RECOVERY

The report recommends training all public safety departments on disaster protocols, improving coordination between police and other first responder agencies and measuring progress through response time and drill reports.

Economy

SHORT-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

• Formalizing homeless services partnership through MOU
• Improving language access across city services

The report notes that the mayor's office partnering with the St. Louis Continuum of Care could be essential in coordinating emergency response, permanent housing and strategic funding goals. Relevant proposals with this partnership in mind include increasing year-round shelter beds and developing a coordinated plan for addressing homeless encampments.

The report also notes that language access is vital to improve short-term supportive services in workforce development. Suggestions include providing interpreters at city job fairs and health clinics, building partnerships with immigrant and refugee-serving organizations.

MID-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

• Streamline city housing development services
• Implementing a citywide language access plan

The report proposes conducting a cross-agency review of all housing-related developments, task force and commissions with the goal to standardize processes, align reporting and focus on housing for senior adults and low-income families.

It also mentions that language access is a crucial factor in ensuring equity and inclusion for non-English speaking residents. With that in mind, some priorities include developing a language access plan for all departments that report to the mayor's office and opening more city jobs to non-native English speaking residents.

LONG-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS

• Modernize the City Charter
• Explore regional shared services
• Establish a working capital fund to strengthen CDCs

The report suggests launching a transparent initiative to modernize the City Charter in order to improve government operations and service delivery. It also emphasizes the importance of regional collaboration, particularly with St. Louis County, to align or integrate services.

Another long-term vision is expanding the role of community develop corporations (CDCs) in revitalizing underinvested neighborhoods. The report proposes creating a working capital fund to provide low-interest loans and grants, supporting small-to-mid-scale local developers and leveraging public-private partnerships to bridge financial gaps.

DISASTER RECOVERY

The report suggests hosting a statewide disaster resilience summit to coordinate long-term recovery and strengthen funding strategies ahead before natural disasters. It also proposes appointing a citywide disaster recovery and resilience coordinator to manage funding preparedness and infrastructure priorities.

What else

The Change for STL Transition Advisory report also addressed education, neighborhood transformation, commercial transformation and disaster recovery, among other things. Additional recommendations included...

• Launching a downtown activation campaign to boost morale, with an emphasis on delivering a "wow" moment for St. Louis, like a high-profile event.
• Activating public spaces and vacant storefronts through art installations, pop-ups and cultural programming.
• Establishing cross-departmental neighborhood action teams to tackles systemic issues and coordinate neighborhood development plans.
• Create incentives to offer free or low-cost community college, workforce training and home ownership assistance.
• Reinvesting in schools that remain open or can be rebuilt following the May 16 tornado.
• Transitioning the St. Louis sheriff's position from an elected role to a mayoral appointment.
• Leveraging the modernization of Lambert Airport and regional transportation access.
• Launching modernized central data systems and incorporating data into "priority-based" budgeting processes.