JENNINGS • All Nancy Steinmeyer said she needed to do Thursday night was drive through her hometown of 51 years to notice that St. Louis County police have beefed up their patrols in an effort to calm the violence that’s been rising in recent months.
More than double the amount of patrol officers started saturating the southern part of the city of about 4,000 Thursday. A shooting earlier this week injured one man as friends and family of the city’s eighth homicide victim since December gathered for a vigil, said Lt. Jeff Fuesting, commander of the Jennings detail.
“We want to reassure the citizens of Jennings that the community is safe and crime has been going down in the last two years,” Fuesting said. “When they see the added cars, it will give them a sense of relief in knowing there are additional officers patrolling.”
St. Louis County police assumed police operations in the city about two years ago after the City Council discovered corruption inside the police department including missing money.
At the time, residents packed city hall with questions about transitioning to the county’s police service. County police assured the community that the $2.8 million contract would employ 33 officers while saving the city money and giving the community access to more police services, such as the department’s helicopter, canine unit, homicide and special investigations units.
Starting Thursday, officers from those specialized units took to the streets, issuing 49 citations, making 16 misdemeanor arrests, one felony arrest and generating a “number of leads” into open investigations, Fuesting said.
In all, seven officers from the county’s tactical unit participated along with one canine officer and four additional Jennings patrol officers, he said.
Six cars failed to yield to officers Thursday night and fled into St. Louis, Fuesting said, adding that the helicopter will be part of the special enforcement — when the weather cooperates — to pursue fleeing suspects.
Despite reductions in most crime categories, homicides have been rising. Half of them have been domestic killings, and the county police already have organized a town hall meeting on domestic violence.
Oshay Caves, however, was not among the domestic homicides. He was shot to death in front of his home in the 5200 block of Hamilton Avenue about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday. Police believe the 21-year-old was targeted.
As his girlfriend and others gathered for an impromptu vigil near a memorial of teddy bears and candles where Caves was killed, another group approached and fired several shots, police said.
One man was struck in the arm. He took himself to a hospital, where he refused treatment and to cooperate with police, Fuesting said.
“In general we have excellent cooperation with the citizens, which is a bonus for us in solving crimes,” he said.
Steinmeyer said the cooperation goes both ways.
“Since the county took over, we’ve noticed more prompt service, they’re courteous and helpful and responsive to our calls,” she said.
Of the recent violence, Steinmeyer said: “You’re always going to have crime no matter where you’re at.”
“But I know that a lot of residents are already seeing more of the officers, and when they see them take more of an initiative to have more police presence for a while like this, that lets us know they’re really trying to work with us to make our town and our city a better place to live,” she said.
Fuesting said he will be reviewing the results of the added police presence weekly to determine when to return to normal patrol levels.
It will take a “significant” drop in violent crime as well as several key arrests, though, before Fuesting said he will be ready to do so.
