Frustration Builds 1.23.2007 | 2 Comment(s)

A few people in the Southampton neighborhood are getting frustrated with the St. Louis Police Department and their work, or lack of it.

From the neighborhood's Yahoo! group, one commenter writes:

"This is getting ridiculous! Are the police even investigating ANY reports of suspicious activities, people or even crimes? A few weeks ago my vehicle's windshield was broken by means of a brick. Police responded to make the report but did nothing else...I am simply FED UP with these crimes continuously occurring and that nothing more than a report is being taken."

Another neighbor says:

"A few months ago my roommate was jumped, beaten and robbed on Chippewa near Lawn resulting in an ambulance ride to the hospital and subsequent operation to repair a badly broken arm and we never heard a word back from the police who took a "report" of the crime but did nothing else."

I rarely see police patrolling the streets of Southampton. Are the cops hiding somewhere...undercover? I kind of doubt that. I'm starting to wonder if criminals are beginning to notice the lack of police presence in our neighborhood and are taking advantage of that. I'm not sure it's gotten to that point yet, but I fear we're close. If the complaints in Southampton are typical of other City neighborhoods, where there is more than just property crimes going on, I'm getting kind of worried.

By  Dragon Lady, at 7:41 PM

Has anyone from your neighborhood contacted your alderman? Start moving up the chain if things aren't being done on the bottom. You need to put the pressure on the alderman to put the pressure on police. If your alderman ignores you, you know what to do: vote them out!!!!!!

By  Brick City, at 8:02 PM

16th ward alderman Donna Baringer had this to say on the group:

"Unfortunately crime on property is up in our area, the biggest increase being in car theft. Chief Mokwa had a meeting with a few alderman who have a large increase in crime in their area to ask for advice on this issue. At the Southampton meeting last week I gave the detailed information on this meeting and what steps we should consider to curb this trend.

The first short term reactive step is that we will be have the car club available for purchase in the next couple of weeks on a Saturday morning at a neighborhood facility. The cost is $10 and I will have the date time and place posted on this website as soon as we confirm it. Until then, please be aware the police, NSO, and alderman are working diligently to address this issue that affects all of us."

So she's aware of the problem, however the quotes I pulled were all posted in response to her post, so clearly there are some frayed nerves.

Not sure if Gregali is aware. He has Southampton east of Macklind.