Dem St. Louis Mayor says business owners should be held ‘accountable’ for crimes that happen on their premises

St. Louis has long had one of the highest violent crime rates in the country, and while some might say that the city’s elected leadership should be held accountable, St. Louis’s Democratic mayor Tishaura Jones recently suggested that instead the city should “hold… business owners accountable” for crimes committed on their premises, according to KOMOnews.

Jones made the comments during the Memphis meeting of the Black Mayors Coalition on Crime, which wrapped up March 28th. The discussions during this conference were closed to the media, but in an interview regarding what strategies were being discussed, Jones told WMC-TV that, “We have a lot of violence around convenience stores and gas stations. So how can we hold those business owners accountable and also bring down crime? Some of the things are already doing, we’re finding other mayors are doing as well.”

In addition to the novel proposition that it’s important to hold business owners rather than city government officials accountable for crimes on business property, other meeting attendees suggested that the problem isn’t that crime is rising, but merely that people perceive that it’s rising. Memphis Mayor Paul Young said, “We are solidified and resolved in the fact that we are stronger together. The national crime data may show some decreases in overall crime stats, but what we discussed today is that if people don’t feel safe, then the statistics don’t matter.”

In point of fact, the statistics suggest that crime in Memphis has gotten considerably worse in recent years, not better. As noted by WMC, the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission noted that overall crime, property crime, and violent crime all saw significant increases in 2023 compared with 2022.

By any measure, St. Louis is one of the worst cities for crime in America. The city received an “F” rating from CrimeGrade.org. For years St. Louis has had one of the highest murder rates and violent crime rates in the country. Jones has been mayor of St. Louis since 2021.

Jones did not respond to requests for comment regarding her remarks.