Other cities are looking to Kansas City, Mo., as an example of how to curb violent crime after the city saw fewer homicides in 2014 than it had in four decades.
In fact, City of St. Louis officials will travel here in coming weeks to look at the Kansas City No Violence Alliance, a policing initiative run out of the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
"I have police officers that are here on my floor, probation officers, social workers and prosecutors," says Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. "It is a team effort. It's a team approach. It's not (a process where) the police go work up a case, and when they're completely done, then they call the prosecutor and bring that case over."
Instead, Baker says, the focus is on deterrence – identifying the likely victims and perpetrators of violence, because they're often the same individuals.
Baker says she's happy to share what she's learned so far. But she also says there's a lot to be learned from St. Louis city officials, too —particularly some programs in Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce's office.
For example, she wants to know more about a St. Louis initiative to keep neighborhood groups in the know when the court hands down sentences and bond conditions. She thinks the geographically targeted program that could work here.
Baker also says there's still work to be done even though the number of homicides last year dipped below early 1970s levels. She wants to work cooperatively with law enforcement north of the river and in Wyandotte County.
"We have this state line that runs through our city, and it's this imaginary line that the criminals cross through every day," Baker says. "We need to be mindful that line means nothing to them."
