Jack Coatar was worried about an exodus of residents and businesses from downtown St. Louis even before the area began seeing civil unrest and a surge in crime this summer.
鈥淛ust with working from home [during COVID-19], it was already a concern,鈥� the 7th Ward alderman told St. Louis on the Air.
Now he鈥檚 hearing people express more and more concerns. In an area that used to bustle with concertgoers, diners and Cardinals fans on many nights, the pandemic-driven vacuum of activity has been filled with something else entirely.
鈥淚nstead you have groups driving muscle cars,鈥� and many of those inside the flashy vehicles are armed, Coatar said.
On Tuesday鈥檚 show, Coatar joined host Sarah Fenske to discuss the surge in racing, gunfire and assault and to share his thoughts on what can be done to address the situation, which was .
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to sugarcoat it: It鈥檚 pretty bad,鈥� Coatar said. 鈥淲hat residents and business owners have been experiencing downtown, especially in the overnight hours, has been something that I know I find very troubling, and I think other city officials do as well.鈥�
He said that the issues started in early spring, and that at first the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department seemed to have the situation more under control.
鈥淏efore COVID and then before some of the major protests downtown and in the region [the police department] was trying to get a handle on the cruising and some of the gunfire,鈥� Coatar said, 鈥渁nd then due to I guess the pandemic and other more pressing concerns, I think some of these issues took a back burner and recently are back in the forefront.鈥�
The alderman said he continues to hear from people struggling to get a response from police when reporting problems.
鈥淚 hear from my colleagues, I hear from residents throughout the city who regularly call 911 and are placed on hold, or simply no one picks up,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 something that鈥檚 baffling to me, and I don鈥檛 understand. And as the board [of aldermen] comes back into session really in a week or so, I think we鈥檙e going to have some of those questions for the public safety director and the police chief.鈥�
During the course of the conversation, Coatar answered questions from callers and from listeners who emailed and tweeted into the show.
The broadcast included prerecorded comments from downtown resident Les Sterman, who moved from the suburbs about 15 years ago with his wife.
Sterman said that from his perspective, the issues making headlines right now are not all that new.
鈥淥ver the last several years we鈥檝e seen a real deterioration in the quality of life downtown. Obviously some of the disruption and criminal behavior and violence has really picked up,鈥� Sterman said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 very much inaccurate to say that it鈥檚 only been in this pandemic that we鈥檝e seen this explosion of this kind of activity downtown 鈥� it鈥檚 really been building for a long time. And that鈥檚 made it in some ways uncomfortable to be living downtown, and we鈥檙e not enjoying it as much as we were at one time.鈥�
Coatar acknowledged that he agrees with some of Sterman鈥檚 comments and is hearing a lot of similar concerns.
鈥淚 think some of it comes down to enforceability and visibility by the police department, and that鈥檚 not something, unfortunately, as an alderman, that I necessarily control,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that downtown residents have been asking for, that I鈥檝e been asking for, and I think in the last couple weekends we鈥檝e seen that situation improve where we have had more specialized units and more police downtown.鈥�
One strategy that officials have implemented in an effort to cut down on drag racing involves various street closures and barricades. Coatar noted that it seems to be making a real difference, but that the stream of cruising vehicles also has a way of redirecting itself.
鈥淲e鈥檝e closed Leonor K Sullivan [and] added numerous barriers and barricades on the south leg of the Arch to try to stop some of the cruising and partying that we鈥檝e seen on the south riverfront,鈥� Coatar said. 鈥淚n the short term what that did was sort of push some of these activities to the north riverfront, which would be Laclede鈥檚 Landing.
鈥淣ow we鈥檝e added some barricades and things there and some additional security patrols 鈥� some funded by the Community Improvement District, some funded by the police department, of which the casino helps contribute to the overall public safety budget. And unfortunately what the police would tell you is we鈥檙e sometimes dealing with a case of whack-a-mole. We can move the cruisers 鈥� we鈥檝e moved them off the riverfront, but now we鈥檙e having a ton of issues on 4th Street, on Broadway and on Washington Avenue.鈥�
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by and produced by , , and . The audio engineer is .
