Unsolved homicides: 1000 St. Louis families in justice limbo

The group looked at homicides from  2014-2023. During this time, 1,900 people were murdered. St. Louis had the highest homicide rate in the country for nearly a decade when compared to cities with similar population sizes. Not surprising, two-thirds of the cases involving white victims were solved, leaving the families of Black victims in justice limbo for years.

These three respected media entities worked on the report for almost three years, fighting the police department every step of the way to get data. Public data. They finally had to sue the department to get what they needed, a route that many other media outlets, organizations and ordinary citizens have had to go in order to get access to public documents.

Here are some of the findings from the multipart series:

Investigative reporters cited shoddy detective work as an important factor in the unsolved cases. Critical evidence was not pursued. Tips were not chased down, including interviewing key witnesses. The detective unit did not include the most experienced and trained personnel. 

One detective got a transfer despite his troubled history of police brutality, credibility and drug abuse. (Former Police Sgt. Heather Taylor had documented gross incompetence of the unit.) Complaints filed on other officers included sleeping on the jobs, lying to commanding officers and not staying in touch with families.

Police claimed a lack of resources hampered investigations. This is blatant deceit. This department has found money whenever it needed it from millions for overtime to spy equipment. The funds from asset forfeitures has been a slush fund with little accountability. Someone needs to investigate that big pot of money. 

Even when federal agents were called in to assist the local police with the backlog, the feds were stonewalled. The investigative report disclosed that SLPD refused to share information (here we go again) and maintained ineffective methods of records. It concluded that the department failed to maximize the resources available to tackle the unsolved murders.

There were other issues that were explored such as staffing shortages and lack of cooperation by witnesses which I’ve spoken to in many of my previous columns. Both of these issues are directly related to the manner in which policing occurs in Black neighborhoods. The level of mistrust will not aid in the recruitment of officers or get vital information from a community besieged by police terrorism, surveillance and occupation.

Two of the most disturbing elements in the report and from the public forum were the complete disregard and disrespect of grieving families who never get a call back from detectives about progress on their loved one’s case. I guess there is no progress to report because there’s no investigating going on. 

The other element is that we have a police chief who has become notorious for his lack of cooperation and for maintaining secrecy to protect the blue wall of brotherhood. Chief Robert Tracy, whose $270,000 annual salary is subsidized by the Police Foundation, has made it abundantly clear that he is not accountable to the citizens of St. Louis. 

This behavior continues to be unacceptable from the leader of a department which sucks up one-third of the city’s budget. The practices also give justification to the Re-investing in Public Safety campaign that strives for real public safety while addressing the human needs of citizens. Without the cooperation of the police chief, substantive solutions to this serious problem remain as elusive as the answers grieving families have long been seeking.

Jamala Rogers is a columnist for The St. Louis American and one of the founding members of the Organization for Black Struggle based in St. Louis.