Police

James Sherrell Charged in Southwestern Illinois College Bomb Threat Case

On Thursday, July 19, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department responded to Southwestern Illinois College after a bomb threat was reported. Classes were canceled and the campus was evacuated, and once the campus was empty and secure, the Sheriff's Department went to work.The bomb threat was actuall ... More >>

Police, Sheriff Epic Fail Lands Two Men in Jail Under Same Name, Same Charge

Will the real Mark Crumble please stand up? That's basically what a Circuit Court judge had to ask when two prisoners were brought to her by the Sheriff's Department for Mark Crumble's probation violation hearing in January 2010. The fake Mark Crumble, actually named Travis Jones, had been held i ... More >>

Police Department Teams With UMSL to Fight Crime

University of Missouri--St. LouisUMSL criminology professor Richard Rosenfeld will soon become a regular presence at police headquarters.​Earlier today the St. Louis Board of Police Commissioners voted to approve a partnership between the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Office of ... More >>

JeffCo Po-Po Transforms Police Cruisers into Stock Cars; Shake and Bake!

Shake and Bake is a popular method for cooking drugs in Missouri's Meth Capital of Jefferson County. Shake and Bake is also the greatest stock-car race strategy ever invented.​The press release below might raise eyebrow if it were coming out of the Ladue or Frontenac police departments. But the Je ... More >>

St. Louis Police Get Two German Shepherds Courtesy of Foundation

Wikimedia CommonsA fine police dog at work. (Yes, we'll use any excuse to run this photo.)​The St. Louis department is the recipient of two new police dogs courtesy of the St. Louis Police Foundation. The foundation officially donated the German Shepherds today at a news conference at police headq ... More >>

East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks Tries to Be Opposite of a Grinch

Keegan HamiltonEast St. Louis mayor Alvin Parks, Jr., at a town hall meeting earlier this year.​Whatever the opposite of a Grinch is, that's what East St. Louis mayor Alvin L. Parks, Jr., is trying to be. Upon hearing that his city was planning to lay off nineteen police officers, four public ... More >>

Be Careful How You Drive on I-270 This Summer: The HEAT is On

In an effort to cut down on the number of traffic accidents, nine local law enforcement agencies have formed a high enforcement action team to patrol I-270 more closely this summer. They'll be paying special attention to speeders, tailgaters and non-seatbelt-wearers. Image source​

Pine Lawn Officer to Undercover St. Louis County Cop: "I Almost Killed You."

Image sourceThe Wild Bunch was re-enacted in Pine Lawn Monday night​Call it the shootout at the Pine Lawn Corral."It was like the wild, wild west out here last night," Pine Lawn Mayor Sylvester Caldwell told reporters on Tuesday.Caldwell is referring to a firefight on wheels in his crime-plagued m ... More >>

Bill for Local Control of St. Louis Police Clears Committee

The St. Louis police have been under state control since cops looked like this, a.k.a. the Civil War.​One down, one to go. A bill that would turn oversight of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to city officials cleared a contentious committee meeting yesterday in the Missouri House. The ... More >>

When A Public Figure's Relative Gets Arrested: St. Louis County Executive Shows You How It's Done

Courtesy of St. Louis County Police DepartmentTimothy Dooley got no love from his powerful brother upon his recent arrest. ​Amidst all the hubbub surrounding St. Louis police commissioner Vince Bommarito's boo boo last week, nobody except KMOX noticed that a close relative of another public figure ... More >>

Police Department Open to Taking Another Look at Officers' Conduct in World Series Ticket Scandal

​The chief spokeswoman for the city police department says the agency could take another look at its officers' behavior during the 2006 World Series ticket scalping scandal. Erica Van Ross tells Daily RFT that the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Internal Affairs division could re-invest ... More >>

St. Louis Police Commissioner Springs Drunk Nephew From Jail, Delivers Him to Fancy Downtown Restaurant

Image Via Vincent Bommarito in his restaurant Tony's​Those five measly DWI's the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department issued on Mardi Gras? Well, make that four measly DWI's.One of the arrests was Christopher Campo, nephew to Vincent Bommarito, the proprietor of the esteemed downtown ea ... More >>

Mayor Francis Slay, Others, Testify to Lawmakers on Local Control of St. Louis Police

Da' Mare: Francis Slay​Mayor Francis Slay reiterated his case for local control of the St. Louis police department yesterday.Speaking last night to the House Special Committee on Urban Issues in Jefferson City, Slay told lawmakers that the system in place since the Civil War -- in which the gover ... More >>

Latin King Gang Member Shot While Tagging Garage Near Fairmount Park

​A southwestern Illinois man claims he shot in self defense when a 17-year-old gang-banger attempted to break into the home where he was staying Tuesday night.Law officers, however, tell another story. They say the 38-year-old shooter fired at the teen from a distance of 75 to 100 feet away. And - ... More >>

The Big Bloody: St. Louis Police Kill Suspect Who Ran, Pointed Gun

St. Louis police officers were on patrol last night in an area of south St. Louis plagued recently with robberies and attempted robberies when they came across two suspicious looking characters. According to police, the two suspects came out of an alley in the 3100 block of Texas (one block west of ... More >>

St. Louis County Police Now Have Crime-Mapping Database

The St. Louis County Police Department has joined the ranks of their comrades in blue in the city and created a crime-mapping database for use by the public. ​The database (viewable at maps.stlouisco.com/police/index.html) features crime happenings for the past 90 days in municipalities patrolled ... More >>

Mokwa Escapes Indictment as Former Cop, Manager of Towing Firm Charged with Fraud

Gregory P. Shepard, a former St. Louis police officer, was indicted on charges of fraud and bribery yesterday involving his operation of the S & H Parking Systems that toppled the administration of former police Chief Joe Mokwa.S&H headquarters at N. 10th and O'Fallon streets just north of d ... More >>

Not To Be Outdone, St. Louis County Police Launch Twitter, Facebook Profiles

Yesterday we told you how the Chesterfield Police Department recently launched a Twitter account. Now the St. Louis County Police Department has followed suit. Apparently new police chief Tim Fitch (promoted to the position just last week) is more of a techie than predecessor Jerry Lee. In a press r ... More >>

The Daily RFT mourns Mickey Carroll, looks into a report of police brutality and catches up with Catherine Hanaway

Man Alleges Police Caused Him Kidney Damage ("My pee was blacker than me!")

Terrell Wilhite, 31, of Bellefontaine Neighbors, tells Riverfront Times that a Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Department officer beat and Tasered him, then drove him across state lines and left him for dead under an IIlinois viaduct in the late night/early morning hours of May 2/3.Wilhite's St. Loui ... More >>

Officers Survive Close Call as Man Fires Shot Through Windshield of Police Cruiser

Two St. Louis police officers are lucky to be alive following a chase early Wednesday morning though the Tower Grove South Neighborhood. Police report seeing a stolen vehicle driving erratically, and later running a red light at approximately 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. The car later turned the wrong way d ... More >>

Man Charged in Shooting Into Cop Cruiser, Injuring Officer

Photo: St. Louis Metropolitan Police DepartmentHarold Lee FordHarold Lee Ford, 43, of the 10600 block of Foxlair Drive in north St. Louis County was charged with five felonies from an incident this week in the Tower Grove South Neighborhood.Ford was allegedly driving erratically in a stolen car earl ... More >>

Latest Score In World Series Ticket Scandal: Public 1, Cops 0

John Chasnoff has won a small but significant victory in his spat with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department over the World Series ticket scandal. Chasnoff got word Tuesday that St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Philip Heagney has ordered police to make public the report that initiated investigat ... More >>

Conversation with the Chief: Dan Isom Discusses Towing Scandals, Gun Laws, Cops and Robbers

This morning St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Dan Isom invited a few reporters to meet with him to discuss his first few months on the job -- as well as anything else we wanted to talk about. I, for one, appreciate the chief's openness. Such an invite would be anathema to some of his predecessors ... More >>

Poll: Will Police Chief Joe Mokwa be Fired?

Law and Anarchy

St. Louis Police Chief Joe Mokwa and his officers may stand trial for violating the civil rights of “anarchists” in 2003.

Arms Race

All security guards at Saint Louis University are now required to carry a gun.

Jerk Pork

The Overland Police Department scrambles over eggs.

Arresting Development

You liked Shaun of the Dead? Then Hot Fuzz will bust a cap in your arse.

Did Cops Get Golden Tickets?

A Cherry on Top

VIP motorcades are no big deal -- they're just illegal

Red Light, Green Light

Did the city deliberately tailor the ordinance and bid requirements to favor only one red-light camera company?

Win Lose Die

Belleville racketeer Thomas Venezia goes out with a bang

The Case That Haunts

The most notorious cold case in the history of the St. Louis Police Department still haunts homicide detectives

As Warson Woods Turns

Is the police chief an embezzler? Or do the mayor and his wife dabble in two-bit corruption?

The Price of Innocence

Larry Johnson wants big bucks for a crime he never committed

Cop Secret

Good luck finding out what St. Louis cops get in exchange for public money

Legal Loopholes

Vandalism isn't a crime in St. Louis. Just ask the police.

Meet the Anarchists

The brouhaha surrounding this year's World Agricultural Forum said a lot about St. Louis. And a lot of what it said wasn't very good.

Who's Afraid of Anthony Shahid?

He's a hero to some, a pain to others. Either way, he makes people very nervous.

Best Place to Drive Slowly

Off I-44, near the Shrewsbury exit

Muddy Water Runs Past Them

Two cities linked by politics, sports, problems -- but not style

Lead Into Gold

A cop shoots a colleague and makes him a wealthy man

Black and Blue

The conflicting versions of the shooting by police of a teenager widen the rift between cops and African-Americans

See No Evil

Denise Wolff was gunned down in front of her home in a quiet South St. Louis neighborhood. Police thought they had the killer until their star witness wrecked the case.

Last Call

A drunken-driving charge landed Soulard bar owner Martina Paulin in jail. It was a one-way trip.

Nothing a Few Thousand Sit-ups Wouldn't Cure

A candidate for St. Louis sheriff wants things shaped up on his watch; plus, other St. Louis follies and foibles

The Marvelous Mr. Gates

You can do a lot of living in a century, especially if you get an extra five years

Space Case

Witnesses testify in the mystery of the Metro East UFO

FORWARD BY UNPOPULAR DEMAND

Dodson murder case is one for the middle of the road