Unit aimed at slowing flow of crime from St. Louis to Madison County to begin patrols
A Cross-River Crime Task Force led by Madison County law enforcement officials expects to begin its first patrols later this month.
The task force, which was formed with the hopes of curbing crime committed in the metro-east by St. Louis perpetrators, adopted a charter Thursday afternoon, Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced at an afternoon press conference.
“There is going to be an intentional effort to reduce crime flow into and through Madison County,” Haine said. “That means reducing the flow of crime across the river. We can see it everyday in the streets and we can see it through the crimes we’re prosecuting in my office.
“There is a cross-river crime problem, that’s just the reality.”
The task force was launched in April in response what Haine described as a “crime wave” that’s taking place in St. Louis and bleeding over into Madison County. Haine listed five different cases where St. Louis or Missouri residents committed crimes in Madison County.
“It’s a tragedy that St. Louis — that is a wonderful, wonderful city — is undergoing a historic crime wave. And Madison County is doing whatever it can to make sure criminals do not cause problems in Madison County,” Haine said.
Haine said in December, two St. Louis residents committed an armed robbery at a Glen Carbon Walmart. The next month SIUE student Moneer Damra was killed in a shooting involving two St. Louis residents near Interstate 270. And in February a St. Louis man was charged with the shooting of an Alton resident.
Patrols are expected to begin within the month, using license plate readers to identify individuals with outstanding warrants or vehicles that are believed to have been involved in criminal activity. A commander to lead the task force also is expected to be selected in the coming week.
The patrols will be voluntary and will take place monthly with the commander choosing a time and place for patrols, Haine said.
“We’re going to use the tools that have been proven effective in law enforcement to make sure we can track individuals that we know law enforcement has a reason to know their whereabouts, arrest criminals and ensure Madison County is a safe place for everybody,” he said.
Haine stressed the technology used by the task force are not “red light cameras” and won’t be used to issue traffic citations. He added that the task force wouldn’t be prioritizing people with Missouri license plates and stressed that Missouri residents won’t be “profiled.”
He also said the task force is focused on protecting the “privacy and fairness” of all residents and said racial profiling and bias has no place in the task force’s efforts.
“We have no tolerance for facial profiling or any degree of racial bias in this effort. We believe enforcing the law fairly and strongly makes everyone safer,” Haine said. “It makes every neighborhood and community safer.”
Collaborating with St. Louis and Missouri-based law enforcement may come in time, Haine added, but no connections have been made as of yet.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 7:30 AM with the headline "Unit aimed at slowing flow of crime from St. Louis to Madison County to begin patrols."