Noble Jones Exclusive: St. Louis ward fighting back against high crime numbers

NORTH ST. LOUIS, Mo.- In 2014 people in the 27th ward developed a major plan to fight crime and they’ve started seeing results.

The change started when more neighbors like Tommy Simiral began stepping up. “When I drive around, I’ve been seeing less and less crime coming up in North Point.”

When Simiral sees something he reports it to police and his block unit. Block units are formed by the neighbors on one street. They watch out for each other and the neighborhood.

St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson appreciates the extra set of eyes. “There are 1200 police. 100 in the circuit attorney’s office and 300,000 people in the city of St. Louis. We can’t be everywhere at once,” said Dotson.

Tamara Rodney formed 3 block units in her neighborhood and attends the wards monthly meetings. “I think the alderman’s meeting is big because you go and see what other people are doing in the 27th ward with block units, who are doing the same thing and you just keep trying to do something,” said Rodney.

Alderman Chris Carter is busy too. He went to area businesses took up a donation and with that money he bought security cameras for the Ward. They also earned a grant that will bring jobs to the community. “Our cameras will actually be monitored by disabled veterans & vets from the area will monitor the cameras at high crime times,” said Carter.