KMOV recently sat down with new St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson, and it’s pretty clear the man is already getting good at the ole “It’s not as bad as it seems” game, picking up right where former Chief Isom left off.
Sam Dotson was candid and poignant in his answers saying “one homicide is too many,” and the goal for his department is to have a year with no killings.
Wow, a year?! Lets start with something that sounds more attainable like a day, or a minute in North City and go from there. Love the enthusiasm though!
How’s that going by the way?
With four days left in the month, this January mirrors the first month of 2010, when 16 other people were killed. While overall crime was down during the second half of 2012, the chief believes this especially violent month can be credited to two groups targeting each other.
Yikes, but next year feels like the one though! No murders in 2014!
“What we do not have are packs of gangs, roaming the city, targeting innocent people,” Dotson said. “We don’t have random shootings.”
Slow down on the “no random killings” stuff new guy, we’re not even in February yet! The random violent packs of thugs don’t like to come out until late spring when school lets out.
Dotson also explains the high number does not exactly tell the full story. Two of the 16 are now being investigated as self defense. Four or five of the slayings could potentially be linked to two groups arguing over a girl.
Sweet, because for a second there it seemed like 16 murders in 30 days sounded like a lot of killing for a city that constantly claims it’s getting better. So the new plan is to just shoot that girl and we’ll be good right?
Despite the recent uptick in violence, the chief says the high crime rate continues to decrease. Just two weeks ago, Dotson reported that overall crimes were down 12 percent in 2012 compared to 2011.
Did you hear that dead people?! Things are getting slightly less horrible! …or not. Lets see how tomorrow goes.
“It’s been very clear to me that the city has made a significant investment [in crime fighting],” Dotson said. “A quarter of a billion dollars every year, year over year to fight these things, so it’s not a lack of resources, it’s not a lack of will.”
…so it’s just that you suck at it then?
As always, thanks for mental gymnastics Chief, but here’s the deal: No one gives a crap why or how or what money was spent to where, they just know that they don’t feel safe. Give a rest with these bullshit interviews and just say “16 is way too many murders, we’re working on it.” …and then actually work on it rather than spending time trying to find reasons to convince everyone it’s not as bad as it seems. Especially don’t worry about February though, it’s a day shorter than last year so you’ve got a guaranteed murder percentage drop built-in!
via KMOV
