In 2020, the state of Missouri had its highest homicide rate on record (at least since 1960). The city of St. Louis also set a new record for its highest homicide rate.
St. Louis is about 46% Black and 44% White.
St. Louis Homicides:
1993: 267 (385k, 69.4 homicides per 100k) former record for highest rate
2017: 205 (308k, 66.6 per 100k)
2018: 186 (304k, 61.2 per 100k)
2019: 194 (301k, 64.5 per 100k)
2020: 263 (301k, 87.4 per 100k) new record for highest rate
2021: 199* (293k, 67.9 per 100k)
2022: 171 so far… (SLMPD report dated November 15th)
For 2022 so far, the St Louis Metropolitan Police Department [SLMPD] reports:
96.7% of known suspects are Black
3.3% of known suspects are White
90.6% of victims were Black
9.4% of victims were White
For 2021, the SLMPD reports:
87.8% of known suspects are Black
10.2% of known suspects are White
91.3% of victims were Black
5.6% of victims were White
1.5% of victims were Asian
1.5% of victims were Hispanic
For 2020, the SLMPD reports:
91.7% of known suspects are Black
8.3% of known suspects are White
91.7% of victims were Black
8.3% of victims were White
For 2019, the SLMPD reports:
91.5% of known suspects are Black
8.5% of known suspects are White
90.2% of victims were Black
7.7% of victims were White
2.1% of victims were Hispanic
For 2018, the SLMPD reports:
88.6% of known suspects are Black
11.4% of known suspects are White
83.4% of victims were Black
15.5% of victims were White
0.5% of victims were Hispanic
0.5% of victims were Other
For 2017, the SLMPD reports:
99.3% of known suspects are Black
0.7% of known suspects are White
93.7% of victims were Black
5.9% of victims were White
0.4% of victims were Hispanic
Note: In the entire six-year period, not a single known suspect is counted as any race other than Black or White. We suspect that the SLMPD uses the White offender category for other races. We have seen this in other cities. For example, some cities count Hispanic offenders as White, even if they track Hispanic victims. In Philadelphia, a Black with a Spanish surname is even transformed into a “White” offender in criminal records. We will dig deeper and try to find out in the SLMPD is counting offenders of other races as “White.
There have been at least three Black on White murders in St. Louis in the past three months.
Jean Kirk Kuczka was a school teacher killed during a spree shooting by a Black male at a St. Louis High School on October 24th.
Toni Michelle Stroder was killed in St. Louis on September 23rd. A Black male and a dark-skinned, racially ambiguous-looking man (with a missing racial classification in St. Louis court records) have been charged.
Michael Wiott was shot and killed on August 15th and a gas station. Police have released a photo of a Black male gunman that was captured by a security camera.
