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Commentary: Downtown needs dialysis

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 7, 2011 - A statue of Ulysses S. Grant stands in front of St. Louis City Hall. Gen. Grant is a personal hero of mine. A ferocious warrior and magnanimous victor, he was a man of courage and compassion who embodied the very best of the American character. Plus, while saving the Union, he also found time to take a drink now and then. In short, he was just the sort of guy I've always admired.

I mean no disrespect to his memory, then, when I suggest that in the interest of full civic disclosure, we should erect a statue of blues singer Albert King alongside him. Grant could remind us of the nation's glorious past while King would represent current reality because if it wasn't for bad luck, this city wouldn't have no luck at all. (Born Under a Bad Sign )

The week of June 20 provided a genuine opportunity to showcase the downtown area and its multifarious attractions. Marine Week brought a large contingent of Leathernecks to town to extol the virtues of Semper Fi and display an extensive selection of exotic weaponry.

The National Sheriffs' Association convened at the America Center for its annual conference, bringing about 3,000 law enforcement officials from across the nation to the shadows of the Arch. The Cardinals were in town for a home stand.

The streets bustled while restaurants, shops and bars did a brisk business. It was downtown like it ought to be and most attendees seemed to enjoy their urban holiday. The sheriffs, for instance, left town raving about the accommodations and vowed to return in the near future.

Despite general success, the weeklong party generated two major news stories: First, three Marines were mugged while walking to their hotel from a downtown nightspot; later, 62 parked cars were broken into in a single night. So once again, crime carried the day, giving suburban skeptics yet more ammunition ... "if it's too dangerous for the Marine Corps down there..."

Civic authorities were understandably frustrated. They initially questioned the veracity of the Marine robbery, only to later retract those comments. While it's true that late-night crime reports about young men leaving taverns are often clouded by what may be called the "fog of bar," it's unlikely in the extreme that the victim voluntarily gave his wallet to a total stranger.

The car-cloutings admit less ambiguity because they leave broken glass and rifled glove boxes in their wake. Officials responded to these incidents by cautioning visitors not to leave valuables in plain sight and now plan to require parking lot owners to fence their property and post an attendant on the premises.

All these are good ideas but it's important to remember that it is the thug, not the victim, who is ultimately responsible for the crime. The troubling case of Calvin Willis and Michael Paynes illustrates my point.

Last week, cops jumped a stolen car thought to be involved in car break-ins near Union Station. When officers attempted to curb the suspect vehicle, it fled the scene and the police gave chase. Because auto theft and car-clouting are considered to be nonviolent property crimes, that pursuit violated police department policy and was terminated, allowing the suspects to escape. Fair enough: High-speed car chases are extremely dangerous and nobody wants to die over a stolen cell phone.

On Saturday night, the cops again spotted the suspect car on South Broadway. This time, they were able to deploy spike strips in its path, thus flattening its tires. Three occupants abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot. One got away.

The driver, Willis, fought with the police and attempted to grab an officer's gun. He's charged with 2nd degree assault on a law enforcement officer, 1st degree tampering and resisting arrest. The other suspect, Paynes, also fought with the police and was subdued with a Taser. He's charged with 2nd degree tampering and resisting arrest. Both men are convicted felons, and property taken in the Union Station car break-ins was found in their stolen car. Charges relating to the car-cloutings are pending. As of this writing, Willis is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail. Paynes was released on a promise to appear in court.

For readers keeping score at home, that's two vehicular pursuits. In the first, all suspects escaped and retained possession of the stolen auto. In the second, the car was recovered (absent inflatable tires), one suspect escaped, a second is now in jail, and a third was returned to the streets within 12 hours of capture and now needs additional funds to hire a lawyer. I wonder how he'll raise that money...

One way to think of the criminal justice system is to liken it to the kidneys of the body politic. Like the renal system of a human body, it is intended to remove impurities from circulation in order to allow the larger organism to thrive. When the kidneys fail to do their job (get the impurities out of the system), the body sickens.

Presently, civic movers and shakers are planning to refurbish the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial grounds and build a high-speed rail station near it to make downtown a more attractive tourist destination. Those plans do not surprise me because I understand that in advanced cases of kidney failure, the patient frequently becomes delusional.

Editor's Note: After the column was written, Paynes, who was on parole for shooting at a police officer, had his parole revoked and is now back in custody.

M.W. Guzy is a retired St. Louis cop who currently works for the city Sheriff's Department. His column appears weekly in the Beacon.