Sam Dotson

Marijuana Reform Now Law in St. Louis, Chief Sam Dotson Says Will Improve Prosecutions

Last month, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen overwhelmingly approved a measure to reform local marijuana laws so that minor possession cases will be handled as fines in city court and not misdemeanor charges in state court. Mayor Francis Slay officially signed the bill into law last week, his spoke ... More >>

Dangerous American Neighborhoods: Chief Sam Dotson Slams Study With St. Louis in Top Spots

This week, a site called NeighborhoodScout.com released its list of "Top 25 Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in America" with St. Louis claiming two of the spots. Similarly to when other national crime rankings have put St. Louis at the top, local politicians and law enforcement officials are criticizin ... More >>

Marijuana: Gary Wiegert's Free-Speech Lawsuit Goes Forward, Sgt. Hopes to Lobby for Reform

Last week, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen passed a marijuana reform proposal that would reduce the punishment for minor pot offenses. The policy change is supposed to save police resources and the mayor is expected to sign it into law. While officials with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Depart ... More >>

Gun Docket: Proposal to Revamp Firearms Prosecution in St. Louis Advances in Senate

It has been a particularly heated week for gun debates. In Missouri, a Republican outcry about gun owner privacy in Missouri sparked a major policy change and a high-profile resignation. Nationally, the U.S. Senate failed to pass a background check proposal, angering even some longtime NRA members. ... More >>

St. Louis Policeman Matthew Schanz Allegedly Choked Boyfriend, Slammed His Head into Wall

An officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has been charged with two counts of felony domestic assault and one count of resisting arrest. A probable-cause statement, on view below, says that officer Matthew Schanz was off duty on March 10 when he assaulted his live-in boyfriend, ... More >>

St. Louis Gun Docket: Can the Courts Do a Better Job of Prosecuting Weapons Offenses?

At the Capitol this session, Missouri legislators have introduced all sorts of bills related to guns, some aimed at reducing violence with stricter policies around sales -- and a whole lot more aimed at stopping any gun control measures altogether. But Republican State Senator Eric Schmitt is prom ... More >>

Marijuana: Free-Speech Lawsuit Sparks Questions About St. Louis Police Stance on Pot

Yesterday, we reported on the allegations of Sergeant Gary Wiegert that the metro police department is suppressing his free-speech rights by blocking him from lobbying for marijuana reforms. His attorney has since filed a formal complaint in federal court, on view below. But what does this latest ... More >>

Marijuana: St. Louis Police Sgt. Gary Wiegert is Suing Department for Suppressing His Lobbying

Sgt. Gary Wiegert of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department supports changes in local marijuana laws so that minor offenses would not needlessly drain police resources. That's why he decided to work on the side as a lobbyist for Show-Me Cannabis, a group that advocates for pot reform in Missou ... More >>

Photos: Top Ten Worst St. Louis Crimes in February, 2013

February may be the shortest month of the year, but in the St. Louis metro area, the month was not short on crime. Within city limits, there have now been a total of twenty homicides in 2013 -- and some notable incidents of violent crime over the last thirty days. Here at Daily RFT, we try to close ... More >>

St. Louis Hot-Spot Initiative: Will Targeted Attention Help Reduce College Hill Crime?

The St. Louis Metro Police Department and the mayor's office are focusing their crime response efforts this month on the College Hill neighborhood through a "hot-spot" policing initiative. The project, promoted in a press event yesterday, is in response to recent crimes in the area including sever ... More >>

Rico Martin Allegedly Fires At St. Louis Officers, Prompting Shootout; Three Hospitalized

Last night, two St. Louis metro police officers responded to a call for a panic alarm in the Baden neighborhood -- and were soon engaged in a shootout that sent both of them, and the suspect, to the hospital. Police just announced this afternoon that 44-year-old Rico Martin has been charged with t ... More >>

Veolia Water Contract: Lewis Reed's Office Pushes Total Re-Do of Contract Process

Challenges to a pending consulting contract between the City of St. Louis and a French multinational water service company called Veolia are still coming from all sides. Activists from the "Dump Veolia" coalition will descend on City Hall this afternoon for another show of opposition; at the same t ... More >>

School Violence Training: St. Louis Police Urge Better Reporting Systems for Warning Signs

Since a shooter broke into an elementary school and killed twenty children in December, law enforcement officials across the country have been engaged in a contentious debate about the best way to protect schools and prevent gun violence. In Missouri, the fight is especially heated -- with gun contr ... More >>

Hosed: A plan to overhaul the St. Louis Water Division leaves the Slay administration all wet

New St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson: "More Guns Is Never The Answer"

The City of St. Louis has a new police chief -- and he says gun control will be one of his top priorities. Officially sworn in on Thursday night, Police Chief Sam Dotson tells Daily RFT that the time has come to crack down on illegal handguns. "As a society, we have to be serious about gun contr ... More >>

Sean Johnson, Hospitalized Shooter at Stevens Institute, Charged with Felony Assault

Sean Johnson, the 34-year-old alleged shooter at the Stevens Institute incident yesterday afternoon, has been charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor weapons charge. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's office just released the probable cause statement which confirms rumors that Johnson was upset ... More >>

Shooting Reported at Stevens Institute of Business and Arts

Multiple media outlets are reporting a shooting at the Stevens Institute of Business and Arts at 1521 Washington Avenue. According to the Post-Dispatch, two men have been removed from the building in stretchers, and a 21-year-old gunman may already have shot himself. P-D reporter Joel Currier jus ... More >>

City's Homicide Total for 2012 Matches Previous Year

The city of St. Louis saw 113 homicides in 2012 -- the exact same tally as the previous year. Some of these homicides got more press than others. Sarah Billingsley-Walker, age 18, was Vashon High School's homecoming queen and co-valedictorian. She was strangled to death. Aniya Cook, also 18, was a N ... More >>

Twitterverse Silent on Hiring of Sam Dotson as St. Louis Police Chief

Given the divisive politics of this town, Daily RFT was expecting fireworks over the weekend with the hiring of Sam Dotson as the next St. Louis police chief. Related content: - Dan Isom Retiring as City Police Chief to Become UMSL Prof - Proxy Twitter War Between Francis Slay and Lewis Reed Heats ... More >>

Watchdog Group Has Its Eye On Veolia, City's New Water Division Consultant

Earlier this week, we broke news that the St. Louis Water Division has chosen Veolia Water, a Paris-based company and the largest water services provider in the world, to guide cost-cutting at the utility. The final contract has not yet been awarded, but a longtime employee of the department provide ... More >>

Washington Avenue Melee Leaves Teenager with Gunshot Wound to the Head

A teenager suffered a gunshot wound to the head Saturday night after a fight broke out at a private party inside 1204 Washington Avenue, police say. (This space used to be Club Amnesia and Club Lure - two nightclubs operated by the Trupiano family -- but manager Tony Trupiano tells Daily RFT that Am ... More >>

Vicious Cycle: Dorian Williams thought he was a bike champion, shrinks and FBI be damned

Jail-Break Testimony: Mismanagement Fueled Staffing Woes

St. Louis City Justice Center​The way Director of Personnel Richard Frank painted it in his testimony at Monday's jail break hearing, the corrections division is a staffing mess, frantically scrambling each day to fill the necessary posts. That's because of an interconnected set of factors that to ... More >>

Jail Break Investigation Hearing Set for Monday

The Public Safety Committee hearing seeks to find who should be ultimately held responsible for the recent string of jail breaks.​A hearing to investigate the recent string of jail breaks is scheduled for Monday, said 27th Ward Alderman Greg Carter, chairman of the Public Safety Committee. The inv ... More >>

Director of Operations' Jail Break Report to Mayor Ignores Stubblefield Memos

Updated 3:35 p.m. to show that Dotson expects to issue a follow-up report in a few weeks.Image viaSt. Louis City Justice Center​In his report to the mayor on "The Status of the Department of Corrections," dated September 29, Director of Operations Sam Dotson concludes, "I strongly believe that rep ... More >>

Board of Aldermen Public Safety Committee to Investigate Jail Breaks

​The Board of Aldermen passed a resolution today to investigate the city's corrections division, particularly the string of four jail breaks in the past fifteen months. The investigation will be handled by the Board's Public Safety Committee, which is chaired by 27th Ward Alderman Greg Carter.The ... More >>

Jailbreak Timeline: Suspended Correction Commissioner's Memos Warned of Jails' Vulnerability for Months

Image via"We have a major public safety responsibility and jails can become a dangerous place to live and work without an appropriate managerial staffing pattern," Stubblefield told Bryson in April.​It's easy to understand why Division of Corrections Commissioner Gene Stubblefield wants the public ... More >>

Nunchuck Ninja Update: Guards Stood By and Watched Inmate Escape

Lorenzo Pollard: A Nunchuck Ninja -- or a guy just smart enough to reason his jailors were idiots? Turns out Lorenzo Pollard -- the so-called Nunchuck Ninja who escaped from the City Workhouse Friday -- might not need that Hollywood agent after all. As embarrassed-sounding city officials admitted t ... More >>

St. Louis City Employed Indicted Gang Members

​Q: How bad ass is America's Most Dangerous City? A: It employs members of a notoriously violent motorcycle gang as security guards!Take that, Detroit, Camden, Oakland and all you other cities that think you're so hard!As the Post-Dispatch details today, two of the five St. Louis men arrested ... More >>

Dos and Dont's This Mardi Gras (As Told To Us By the St. Louis Police)

A scene from last year's Mardi Gras. More photos here.​Changes made last year in the Missouri Legislature means that for the first time in recent memory, agents with the state's Alcohol and Tobacco Control won't be assisting St. Louis police in monitoring underage drinking at this Saturday's Mardi ... More >>

Absence of Malice

The termination of Kaos and Syllli Asz: a rush to judgment?