ST. LOUIS — St. Louis is on pace to have more murders in 2020 than in 2019. Already, there are more children who’ve been fatally shot this year than in all of 2019.
Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed is hoping to bring justice to some of those crimes.
His method? Money.
Next month, Reed will introduce a bill to establish a $2 million fund; the pot of money would be used as cash rewards for tips and leads that ultimately end in the arrest of someone who has committed a murder in the city.
“We cannot continue to let murderers, especially child murderers, walk the streets of St. Louis,” Reed said. We know there are people out there that have information. The goal is to get justice for grieving families and break the cycle of violence in St. Louis.”
The fund would award $10,000 for information that leads to the arrest of anyone who has committed a murder in St. Louis. The award goes up to $15,000 if the person arrested was wanted for the murder of a child under the age of 17.
“People who are foolish enough to commit murder need to understand that there is zero tolerance for that type of behavior and we will capture you,” said Reed.
The $2 million would be taken out of city’s emergency reserves fund, Reed said in a news release.
Tipsters would be able to call a hotline to anonymously report information and access reward money.
Reed plans to introduce the bill at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen meeting on Friday, Sept. 18.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, along with agencies across the St. Louis area, also ask people to contact CrimeStoppers with tip information. That anonymous crime tip hotline offers a cash reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to an arrest in homicide cases.
