St. Louis' Private Police Forces Make Security a Luxury of the Rich (ProPublica)

[Nevilledog]

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Charles Ornstein
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A private police force in St. Louis is offering bounties to public police officers to solve crimes. Following questions from ProPublica, St. Louis Dept. of Public Safety Deputy Director Heather Taylor said the city is reviewing the practice.
https://propublica.org/article/public-vs-private-policing-in-st-louis… @jeremykohler

propublica.org
St. Louis’ Private Police Forces Make Security a Luxury of the Rich
Wealthier neighborhoods in St. Louis have armed themselves with private police, giving them a level of service poor areas can’t afford and fueling racial and economic disparities.
11:59 AM · Sep 8, 2022

https://www.propublica.org/article/public-vs-private-policing-in-st-louis

Hours after a burglary at a designer jeans store in St. Louis’ upscale Central West End neighborhood, at least 16 city police officers received an email alert with surveillance photos of the car believed to belong to the suspects — and an offer of a reward of at least $1,000 for any officer able to locate it.

The email was not from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the police force that employs them and that residents fund with their taxes. Instead, it was from a retired city police detective named Charles “Rob” Betts, who also employs them at his private company, The City’s Finest.

The City’s Finest is no mere security firm. With about 200 officers moonlighting for it, it’s the biggest of several private policing companies that some of St. Louis’ wealthier and predominantly white neighborhoods have hired to patrol public spaces and protect their homes and businesses.

These neighborhoods buy patrols from Betts’ firm and other private police companies because, they say, they do not get enough from a city police department that struggles to provide basic services.

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[2naSalit]

1. Might be able to get...

Better services from the municipal if they paid their fucking taxes.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Hey, some of our stronger neighborhoods in STLMO do in fact, provide additional security and this is

paid for by the neighborhood. In the two neighborhoods that I live in (over 41,000 households, and a very strong and vibrant community in our part of the STLMO area), we do have additional patrols in addition to the regular police. I think that this is great, and this actually helps other parts of the city, in that limited resources are thus able to be perhaps used elsewhere if need be, since we do have additional coverage. This is not a luxury as these articles seem to suggest, this is by overwhelming neighborhood demand for this service. They mentioned the Central West End, and the two neighborhoods I'm mentioned here are the Dutchtown and Tower Grove neighborhoods.

And, everyone is welcome to live in these neighborhoods too. They are not exclusive, blocked to only entry of current residents, so there is a wide variety of people living in these large neighborhoods.

[pecosbob]

3. What ya'll rich preppers gonna do when civilization collapses and all your money's worthless?

Your hired security will turn on you when you can no longer pay them.