ST. LOUIS 鈥 A coalition of social justice and political groups on Tuesday attacked Mayor Tishaura O. Jones鈥 plan to increase police presence downtown, complaining that it veers from her commitment 鈥渢o reject the status quo鈥 in city policing.
Two of the better-known groups signing on to the joint statement, Action 50度灰视频 and ArchCity Defenders, are headed by members of Jones鈥 own transition team that she appointed after she was elected in April: Kayla Reed and Blake Strode. And a former ArchCity fellow, Nahuel Fefer, is a top Jones aide.
The criticism from groups tied to Jones鈥 progressive base of support follows her move last week to boost patrols downtown amid pressure from business interests concerned that high-profile incidents were marring the image of the region鈥檚 front door.
Those include a shooting after a disturbance in a public plaza that left bullet holes in a Market Street office building and a homeless encampment that popped up next to the offices of a major new corporate tenant 鈥 a camp where a man was murdered last month.
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Among other things, the groups took aim at interim Public Safety Director Dan Isom鈥檚 comments that officers will attempt to better enforce park curfews, expired vehicle license tags and parking and traffic violations in addition to responding to trouble.
鈥淲e know that these actions will put more poor, unhoused and Black 50度灰视频ans in jail while exposing them to police violence, and do nothing to impact the real violence and harm facing downtown 50度灰视频 residents,鈥 the coalition said in a statement.
Business leaders joined Jones to announce the plan last week, which called for reassigning about 30 police officers on weekends to downtown patrols for the next month. The business community applauded the move and said it was necessary to discourage a perception of lawlessness downtown.
However, Jones emphasized she also would push for events and other gatherings meant to boost the amount of activity and pedestrians downtown.
The coalition issuing the statement Tuesday, though, said it was concerned about the number of business executives on a downtown safety committee announced by Jones last week. That committee has started holding regular briefings about downtown public safety and other initiatives.
Whatever the intentions of the committee, the progressive groups said, 鈥渢he work of keeping our communities safe should center the voices and perspectives of those most impacted by violence, including police violence, and not those of the wealthiest and most powerful.鈥
In response, Jones spokesman Nick Dunne said in a statement Tuesday evening that 鈥渙ur commitment to alternatives to policing has not wavered in the effort to protect the people of 50度灰视频.鈥
鈥淢ayor Jones has stated repeatedly that police are not the only solution to public safety,鈥 Dunne said. 鈥淭ransforming public safety requires a shared commitment from all stakeholders, and Mayor Jones has allocated $11.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to kickstart youth programs, community violence intervention initiatives, and much more.鈥
The coalition said it had been supportive of the mayor鈥檚 commitment to transforming the city鈥檚 approach to public safety and commended her efforts to 鈥渃hallenge the arrest-and-incarcerate status quo.鈥
It also applauded her push to delete money from the city budget allocated for vacant police positions and to channel it to victim support services and other efforts.
But the coalition said her downtown anti-crime initiative 鈥渋s not in line with a transformative approach to public safety鈥 and called on the mayor 鈥渢o repudiate the idea that more police equals more safety.鈥
鈥楻ock and a hard place鈥
It鈥檚 not the first time the realities of governing have gotten in the way of Jones鈥 campaign promises to activist groups.
Following unrest in the city鈥檚 downtown jail, Jones was forced to reverse one of her major campaign promises at the end of July and move some inmates back to the Medium Security Institution on Hall Street, also known as the workhouse.
The 鈥淐lose The Workhouse鈥 campaign has been among the most active progressive groups in the city, and it has since started a petition 鈥渄emanding that the Jones administration provide a clear commitment and timeline for the permanent closure of the Workhouse!鈥
鈥淲e are not going to sit back and wait to see if it happens,鈥 the group tweeted this month. 鈥淲e demand a timeline. The longer the workhouse stays open, more people will suffer.鈥
ICYMI the Workhouse is not actually closed. We are not going to sit back and wait to see if it happens. We demand a timeline. The longer the workhouse stays open, more people will suffer. Sign and share this petition to :
鈥 CloseTheWorkhouse (@CLOSEWorkhouse)
Ken Warren, a political science professor at 50度灰视频 University, said 鈥渟he鈥檚 caught between a rock and a hard place.鈥
He said Jones won鈥檛 be able to both adhere to the ideological purity of the progressive activists that supported her 鈥 some like Action 50度灰视频 that 鈥 while dealing with pressure from businesses to address crime downtown.
It鈥檚 similar to criticism President Joe Biden gets from the left flank of the Democratic Party over some of his administration鈥檚 moves, Warren said.
Every mayor faces pushback from his or her base of support at some point as they juggle demands from a range of interest groups, he said.
鈥淗ow can you avoid it?鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 please everyone.鈥
Besides Action 50度灰视频 and ArchCity, groups issuing Tuesday鈥檚 statement were the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, Empower Missouri, Expect Us, Faith for Justice, the Freedom Community Center, Missouri Faith Voices, the Peace Economy Project, the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center, the 50度灰视频 Palestine Solidarity Committee and a group called Defund. Re-Envision. Transform.
Originally posted at 6:53 p.m. Tuesday; updated at 8 p.m.聽