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St. Louis Board of Aldermen Eyes Red Light Cameras to Curb Traffic Violence | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

Published

2 years ago

July 18, 2023

Natural Bridge

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An uptick in pedestrian deaths has rekindled talk of red light cameras.

Red light cameras may be coming back to St. Louis city.

The past year has seen outrage over the pedestrians and cyclists killed and injured by drivers in all parts of the city. Calls for local elected leaders to do something about the traffic violence have grown louder and louder online, at public meetings and even through protests in the form of public art.

Over the weekend, in response to a tweet about cars on South Broadway speeding in the bike and turning lanes, President of the Board of Alderman Megan Green wrote that legislation intended to make streets safer would be introduced in September.

“We’d hoped to get it done this spring but legal issues have been more complicated than we initially anticipated. It is a top priority and in the works,” she wrote. When pressed about what the legislation would entail, Green listed “red light and speed cameras” first among several other initiatives, including enhanced drivers’ education.
Yusuf Daneshyar, a spokesman for Green’s office, confirms to the RFT that “the red light camera bill will be finalized over the summer recess and introduced once the board reconvenes in September.”
In March, after four young people were killed in a crash near Saint Louis University, Mayor Tishaura Jones said her legal team was exploring ways to bring the cameras back.

Red light cameras, which automatically issue a ticket to drivers who run a red light, were common in the metro region until a 2015 Missouri Supreme Court decision ruled them unconstitutional. (The third such ruling in as many years by the state’s highest court, the decision rested on due process concerns, since the city presumed the owner of the car was its driver.)

Even prior to the ruling, libertarian attorney Bevis Schock was advising people who got the tickets not to pay them. He says that the work he and fellow attorney Hugh Eastwood did to have the cameras declared unconstitutional was “a feather in the cap of our careers.”

Schock tells the RFT if the cameras come back, so too will his efforts to make them go away.

“The public hates red light camera tickets,” Schock says.

He also doubts how effective they would be. “Half of the people running red lights don’t have license plates on their cars,” he says.

Others disagree. Long before he was the chief trial officer for the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office, Marvin Teer was a municipal judge in the city who ran the red light camera docket. (According to a Bill McClellan column, Teer’s courtroom was an entertaining one, run “like a game show.”)

About the possibility of the camera’s return, Teer says, “Having an eye in the sky on public thoroughfares can be good for a lot of reasons.” However, he doesn’t think it’s wise for cities to become like London or Beijing, completely awash in surveillance.Daneshyar says the legislation now in the works would has been drafted with recent court decisions in mind. The bill introduced in September will include “provisions that address privacy concerns, prioritize safety and not revenue, and follow Missouri Supreme Court opinions which provide guidance on how automated enforcement programs should be administered,” he says. Last year, pedestrian deaths in Missouri increased by 7.5 percent, the tenth-biggest spike seen in the country. Mostly due to their penchant for speed and driving under the influence, St. Louis drivers were recently named the fifth worst in the U.S.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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