Newspaper Article- St. Louis City
In the article “Eliminating residency rule important for St. Louis,” Gerber (2020) talks about the policy that seeks to reduce crime in St. Louis. The article talks about eliminating the requirement for police residency within the city and how it would lead to practical results on St. Louis’ violent crime special session. The author quotes mayor Lyda Krewson when she outlines the benefits of removing the police residency requirement policy. She states that removing the system would help police recruitment, noting that St. Louis is the only municipality with such an approach. In the article, Mayor Lyda Krewson also notes that the police residency requirement policy limits police recruitment to just about 62 square kilometers. The result is that the police department of the town 143 shot of police than the state requirement.
As a section of the violent crime special session, the police’s residency requirement comprises five provisions up for considerations. Gerber (2020) mentions other bills such as crimes of illegally transferring a weapon to a child and endangering a minor’s welfare, funds for wetness protection, and laws that cover the protection of witnesses. All these are up for consideration to try and curb the crime rate within the city. Gerber (2020) also refers to some interview in “This Week in Missouri Politics.” According to this interview, removing the police residency requirement would benefit St. Louis. They also admit that crime is a problem within the city and, as a result, discourages people from coming to St. Louis. According to the article, people not coming into the town is not suitable for St. Louis and the country.
The article also touches on the current COVID-19 pandemic and how St. Louis carries out its local control concerning school attendance. According to one of the state’s representatives, St. Louis has not issued orders to close shoos. The reason is that St. Louis’ public authority is restricted in dealing with the immediate threat. Therefore, the city advocates for virtual school attendance and is doing everything within its power to ensure everyone gets access to online facilities to promote learning. Additionally, the state is also encouraging its people to work from home. It also promises that it will build on the culture to help ensure that security is much better in the coming future.
The police residency requirement policy affects me in several ways. Currently, St. Louis has the problem of crime. In comparison to other surrounding cities, it is ranked as the highest in terms of crime rates. That affects the level of security in the town. Individuals prefer where they know they are safe and can raise their children without worrying about their safety. In this case, more people move out of the city to find where they can live in peace. As a result, the city loses its working population and income. The outcome is that the city does not grow in terms of infrastructure because it keeps on losing people to generate its revenue. Due to the lack of enough police in the town, the crime rate goes high.
Additionally, it affects the management of immediate threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, St. Louis cannot issue an order to close school due to a lack of enough police control. That may lead to further spread of the virus that could negatively impact the city’s population. Furthermore, St. Louis is advocating for students to learn online. Some people have limited access to online facilities to continue their learning process. Therefore, policymakers must remove the police residency requirement policy, which will allow for more recruitment of police, thereby increasing the security within St. Louis.
In this article, the author is neutral. He does not give his opinion about the policy, and thus it is challenging to tell where he stands concerning the subject. The main objective of the author in the report is to relay a given message. In this case, he relays the message that the police residency policy is up for consideration, among other security bills. In other words, it is more of a news article serving the purpose of informing the people of St. Louis that something is taking place that they should know. The author offers no views concerning the matter and ends the report on a neutral note touching the current pandemic.
In the future, I would influence this policy by creating awareness about the benefits of the system. I would also identify a window of opportunity because this is when policymakers have the motivation to solve the problem. For instance, this policy is currently up for consideration. Now would be a perfect time to provide evidence to push the police to succeed. The other way to influence this policy is by trying to establish a friendship with policymakers. According to studies, policymakers in the middle of a crisis are more likely to pick up a call from someone they know that someone they do not know. That will have a positive impact on putting the policy into law.
References
GERBER, C. (2020, August 31). Eliminating residency rule important for St. Louis, mayor says. The Missouri Times. https://themissouritimes.com/eliminating-residency-rule-important-for-st-louis-mayor-says/