St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department

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 >>

St. Louis Police Arrest 24 People Downtown in "Peace Disturbance," Mostly Minors (VIDEO)

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department arrested a whopping total of 24 people last night in downtown after an alleged "peace disturbance." Most of the individuals taken into custody were juveniles, the youngest age thirteen. The arrests took place right in the middle of downtown around the ... More >>

The Pros and Cons of "Local Control," a.k.a. Prop A

All right, Missourians! What should we do about "local control" of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, also known as Proposition A?Advocates of the measure insist that the current system of oversight -- under which the cops ultimately answer to a board appointed by the governor -- is a sha ... More >>

State Rep Jamilah Nasheed: Governor's Control of STL City Police "Built on Evil and Hatred"

This November, Missourians must will decide whether to release St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department from state control -- a vestige of Civil War politics -- and allow the city to oversee its own cops.  Few people have wanted this more than state Representative Jamilah Nasheed of the 60th di ... More >>

Mayor Slay Follows Through With Promised Crackdown on Parking Lots

A parking attendant guards his lot recently in downtown St. Louis.​It's been months in the coming, and yesterday it finally came to fruition: We now have new rules impacting the way downtown St. Louis parking lots operate. Yesterday Mayor Francis Slay's office announced that lots in the city's cen ... More >>

Body Found in Burning Car in South City Friday

The 3600 block of Pennsylvania, where a body was found in a burning car on Friday.​ When the St. Louis Fire Department responded to a report of a burning car Friday morning near Gravois Park, they found more than just smoke, fire and burning rubber.They found a dead body.

Serial Robber on the Loose in St. Louis; Suspect Involved in Nine Incidents This Morning

​St. Louis police are on the lookout for a man involved in nine armed robberies and/or attempted robberies this morning. All the incidents occurred between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. in 1st, 3rd and 9th police districts (highlighted in red to the left). According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Depart ... More >>

Homicide Detectives Investigating Death of Toddler

Investigators with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's homicide unit are examining the death early this morning of two-year-old Jessica Gregorio.​The toddler was found unresponsive around 1 a.m. today in the 3600 block of Alberta in the Dutchtown South neighborhood. She was later pronou ... More >>

Brasserie by Niche, Tortillaria Burglarized

Laura Miller​Burglars have struck two Central West End restaurants this week, Brasserie by Niche (4380 Laclede Avenue; 314-454-0600) and Tortillaria (8 1/2 South Euclid Avenue; 314-361-4433). It remains unclear as of now whether the two crimes are connected, though the m.o. is similar in each.The ... More >>

Charles Bryant and Michael Berry: Killed in Separate Shootings Last Night

The 3500 block of Vandeventer, where 38-year-old Charles Bryant was shot to death last night.​Two St. Louis men have been killed in separate shootings in north city -- one around 11:45 p.m. last night and a second around 1 a.m. this morning.Both men were found in north city, both were shot multipl ... More >>

John Lee Kennedy: St. Louis Homicide No. 57; Dies at North City White Castle

John Lee Kennedy, of the 3800 block of North 25th Street, died last night after being shot just blocks away from his home in the Hyde Park Neighborhood. ​According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Kennedy was at the intersection of North 21st Street and North Florissant around 11:5 ... More >>

UPDATE: Two Dead In Senseless High-Speed Crash in St. Louis

Update 3:26 p.m.: Sources tell Daily RFT that the name of the driver is Terrence Harris. A man with that same name and year of birth faces multiple charges in St. Louis County for a similar offense. Terrence Harris, of the 11900 of El Camara Drive in north St. Louis County, was arrested last October ... More >>

Man Shot in Dutchtown in Broad Daylight

The 4100 block of Nebraska -- the site of yet another shooting in Dutchtown.​Two men were shot yesterday in separate incidents in St. Louis -- but both are expected to survive the attacks.In the first instance, a man in the 4100 block of Nebraska Avenue, at the intersection of Meramec, was shot in ... More >>

Baby Found Dead in South-City Trash Bin

The 2300 block of South Jefferson, where an 18-month-old boy was reported missing -- and then found in a trash bin 30 minutes later.​ An 18-month-old south-city boy, reported missing by his family earlier this morning, was found dead in a trash bin near the family's home, according to the St. ... More >>

Dutchtown Man in Serious Condition After Interrupting Burglar

The 3700 block of Delor, where a 28-year-old man was shot several times last night.​A 28-year-old man is in serious condition after interrupting a gun-toting burglar trying to break into his neighbor's apartment last night.The man, whose name is being withheld by police, was at his home in the 370 ... More >>

Fashion-Challenged Man Robs St. Louis Taco Bell; Outfit Recalls Classic Movie Line

​The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is asking the public to help identify a man (pictured here) wanted for robbing a Taco Bell restaurant Sunday in the 6600 block of Manchester Road. The suspect is a white male believed to be between 38 and 48 who was last seen wearing a red jacket (with ... More >>

Michael Pankins: Victim Shot Dead in Car in North St. Louis

A 24-year-old man is dead after being shot in the head yesterday evening in the 5900 block of Lillian (below) in north St. Louis. ​The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department reports that Michael Pankins was a passenger in a car when he was shot around 6 p.m. Sunday. The driver of the vehicle tra ... More >>

Burglars Invade Central West End Apartment, Hold Residents at Gunpoint

Three people in the Central West End are recovering from a scare after two armed men burst into their apartment early this morning. ​According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, a 22-year-old man was in his living room in the 4000 block of Westminster (above) when two black males wit ... More >>

Man Shot in Liquor Store Parking Lot in North St. Louis

via CitySearch​A 21-year-old black man was shot last night in the parking lot of Caldwell's Package Liquor, 4163 North Grand Street, and is now in critical condition.According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the victim, who is not being identified, was sitting in a parked car with ... More >>

St. Louis Police Activate Violent Offense Team Following Recent Shootings

​Operating on intelligence that a rash of recent shootings may be related, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department today activated its Violent Offense Team. The 30-person unit will work in 24-hour shifts over the next several days to gather intelligence that can lead to arrests and charges ag ... More >>

Tommie Johnson: St. Louis Homicide No. 20; Found Dead in Vacant Lot

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department yesterday identified the man killed Saturday night in the 5500 block of Labadie (below) in north city. ​Authorities responded to the area around 8 p.m. on March 12 after receiving a report of gunshots in the area. Tommie Johnson, a 48-year-old resident ... More >>

Con Artist Impersonating St. Louis Public Defender

​The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department today alerted residents about a telephone scam that cost at least one senior citizen thousands of dollars. According to police, an 86-year-old woman was recently contacted by a male caller who identified himself as a St. Louis public defender. The ... More >>

Christopher D. Johnson, St. Louis Homicide No. 12, Shot Multiple Times

​Christopher D. Johnson, a 28-year-old black man, was found dead last night around 11:30 p.m. in the 1800 block of Belle Glade Avenue.The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department says that it received a report of shots fired and arrived at the scene to find Johnson in the alley. He had been shot s ... More >>

Mardi Gras Mayhem: This Year's Arrest Totals

Not all Mardi Gras goers are dirty drunken criminals -- just 83 of them.​Okay, so there was some mad fun in Soulard this weekend: drinking, carousing crazy fun! You can see more about all that here in our slideshow (warning: this link is ohhh-so-not-safe for work.But if you're the kind of crotchet ... More >>

John Wesley Jones: Guilty Plea Reveals New Details in ATM Solutions Robbery

St. Louis Metropolitan Police DepartmentJohn Wesley Jones​ John Wesley Jones appeared in court this afternoon to enter guilty pleas to armed robbery and related firearms charges in a record money heist last summer in St. Louis. According to court documents, in the early morning of August 2, four ... More >>

Top 5 Hilarious Excerpts from New Book on How Wild STL Cops Used to Be

​The 1950s were a very, very different time for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department -- a wild-and-woolly era when some blueshirts preferred to mete out justice to no-good low-lifes on the sidewalk -- not the courtroom. To get a taste of this freewheeling world, you might leaf through "Cur ... More >>

St. Louis Cops Show Sensitive Side With Christmas Concert

​They're big, they're packing heat and they go toe-to-toe with the city's most vicious gang-bangers for a living.But did you know the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department also has its own choir? As we reported earlier this year, the singing group is one of only four such police choruses in the ... More >>

St. Louis to Get 50 More Cops Thanks to Federal Stimulus

​The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will grow by at least 50 new officers over the next three years. Today the city was granted $8.6 million in federal stimulus dollars to fund the additional cops. The city currently has 1,290 police officers and could end up adding 65 more by the end of ... More >>

Photo: Cops Give Big Flaming Finger to St. Louis

From the online St. Louis police forum, CopTalk:​

St. Louis Police: 20 Homicides So Far in 2010 -- Seven More Than First Two Months of '09

​Murders are up in St. Louis so far in 2010, though those figures are slightly skewed by the actions of a deranged gunman who killed three people and wounded five others in a workplace shooting in January. Responding to a Daily RFT request yesterday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department co ... 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 Says Police Commissioner Vince Bommarito Made a Boo-Boo

SLMPD Bommarito must do what's best for the board, says Hizzoner.​In a long chat with Charles Jaco on The Big 550-KTRS just moments ago, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay stopped short of calling for Vince Bommarito's resignation from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Board of Commi ... More >>

St. Louis Police Mentor Iraqi Cop Delegation

The first image that appears when one googles the term "iraq police".​There's a punch line (or two) in the following press release sent out today from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. If you find it, feel free leave it in the comment section below. Now, without further ado:

After $16,000 in Designer Jeans Walk Off From CWE Store, Police March In a Suspect

St. Louis Metropolitan Police DepartmentBland, 19, is suspected of hauling off more than 100 pairs of designer jeans. ​St. Louis police have arrested one man for the November 28 break-in of the Adriano Goldschmied store in the Central West End. Marquan D. Bland, 19, of the Baden neighborhood, has ... More >>

St. Louis' 2009 Newsmakers: Mayor Slay Buries the Lede

mayorslay.comThe mayor doesn't suggest you cast a vote for him. ​Now that 2010 is afoot, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay wants your take on the biggest news-makers of 2009, a la Time magazine's "Person of the Year". In his weekly poll released today, Slay asks you to pick from his pre-fab list of las ... More >>

Looters Leave Swank CWE Store With $16,000 Worth of Jeans

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers are asking for the public's help in identifying a a quintet who recently broke into Adriano Goldschmied and made off with more than $16,000 worth of jeans. Courtesy of SLMPDSurveillance footage captured at Adriano Goldschmied on Nov. 28​The men -- ... More >>

Satisfaction with St. Louis Police Depends on Where You Live

topteedesigns.com​The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department yesterday released findings from a satisfaction survey it conducted recently. The poll of St. Louis residents found that three in four people were "satisfied" with the operation of the department and even more (86 percent) found police ... More >>

St. Louis Police Get Dash Cams; Hilarious Videos Sure To Follow

Yesterday the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department announced it received a grant that would allow the agency to install mounted video cameras in some 20 patrol cars. The police hope the recordings will lead to more prosecutions and guilty pleas and allow its officers to refute bogus allegations ... More >>

Federal Grant of $8.6 Million Allows St. Louis Police to Save 50 Jobs

​The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department had been prepared to slash some 50 jobs Tuesday, when it received word that it would receive help from the federal COPS Hiring Recovery Plan. The department had asked for $18 million in federal assistance to bring its staffing level up to 1,400. Inste ... More >>

St. Louis Homicides Down 30 Percent for First Six Months of '09; Teen Murders On Pace for Lesser Declines

As of today (July 1) the year is half over. And according to numbers provided by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, homicides are down nearly 30 percent compared to 2008.  As of Monday (June 29), the police reported 60 murders in the city in 2009 compared with 85 by mid-year 2008. Gi ... 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 >>

St. Louis: Nation's Second Deadliest City in '08

flickr.com/photos/poohbahThe FBI came out with its 2008 crime statistics this week. And when it comes to murder rates, our fair city has a dubious distinction. St. Louis ranked second per capita last year in the number of homicides committed in the city, with 47 slayings per 100,000 people. Leadi ... 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 >>

Wednesday, March 18: Morning's Newz

A man in southwestern Illinois is blaming the sleeping pill Ambien for a recent brush with the law. The man says he took the drug and the next thing he remembered was waking up in a jail cell where police charged him with attempting to break into a home and resisting arrest. The man aptly calls his ... More >>

Ho, Ho, Hanukkah: The Unreal holiday remix!

Clayton High School Students Involved in St. Louis Shooting

Editor's Note: This story has been updated. Read the updated post here.The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating a shooting involving students from Clayton High School. Word of the shooting last week fueled chatter among and faculty and spurred phone calls to the school from wor ... More >>

Did Cops Get Golden Tickets?

Unreal News Challenge 2005!

Time again to take the year-end quiz