Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is sending highway patrol troopers and other state workers to St. Louis as part of an effort to fight the surge of violent crime that has included the killings of more than a dozen children in the region so far this year.
The Republican governor on Thursday announced an action plan that takes effect Oct. 1. Parson said the total cost of the state's commitment, including the 25 state employees who will work in the St. Louis region, is up to $4 million.
"This is about targeting violent criminals and getting them off the street," Parson said at a news conference in St. Louis.
Troopers will patrol interstate highways and assist with U.S. Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that focus on violent criminals. The state is also providing investigators to help with federal crime cases and social workers to assist crime victims. Parson said his plan also includes $2 million in state funds for services to help crime victims.
The plan does not include any change in gun laws, something St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and other Democrats have called for. Parson said it would be up to the Missouri Legislature to change gun laws but reiterated his staunch support for citizens' gun rights.
St. Louis has long had one of the nation's highest murder rates, and the 144 homicides so far in 2019 are on pace to top last year's total of 186. Particularly troubling this year is the fact that 11 of the victims were children , and two other child deaths are still being investigated as "suspicious." All of the child victims and the vast majority of adult victims were black in a city that's about evenly split between black and white residents.
Parson's plan addresses violence in St. Louis County, too. St. Louis County has recorded 37 homicides this year, one fewer than the same time a year ago. St. Louis County has reported two child homicides so far in 2019.
The Rev. Darryl Gray, one of 15 faith leaders who met Thursday with Parson, said the group is encouraged that Parson understands the gravity of the violence, not only in Missouri but in Kansas City, Springfield and other places.
"I think he feels the urgency," Gray said. "He understands that this is a crisis, not just for the black community but for Missouri."
Kansas City's homicide rate also is on the rise. Parson's spokeswoman, Kelli Jones, said that while the governor has met with Kansas City officials to discuss the crime problem there, he has no plans for a similar action plan in Kansas City.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade of Springfield said Parson's plan "does nothing for Kansas City or rural areas affected by increases in gun-related suicides and local violence." Quade, in a statement, said the proposal fails to address "Missouri's dangerously weak gun laws."
St. Louis-area Democrats want the city of St. Louis to be able to require permits for concealed weapons. State law requires no permit, and the law does not allow local jurisdictions to impose stricter gun laws than the state law.
Krewson said at the news conference that the city also is spending more money to fight crime, investing $500,000 in a program called "Cure Violence" that treats crime like a public health crisis and another $1.5 million for violence prevention efforts. St. Louis County is pledging more officers to man the region's MetroLink light rail system.
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
