ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis officials believe they’ve found a relatively simple way to reduce killings — setting bail levels so high for gun crimes that defendants spend lengthy time behind bars even before they are convicted.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that about eight months ago, the St. Louis Circuit Court began taking the hardline approach to gun crimes.
Police Chief Dan Isom credits the practice with helping to reduce the city’s homicides by 20 percent to 114, a level not seen since 2004.
The program is so promising that researchers from the University of Chicago are studying the effort and believe it could revolutionize crime prevention.
Judge John Garvey, who introduced the program in May, is encouraged but said it’s too soon to gauge the real value of the program.
“We absolutely need a bigger snapshot; that’s why the University of Chicago is here,” Garvey said. “I’m not convinced that gun bonds are the difference ... but wouldn’t it be amazing if it was this easy?”
Defense lawyers aren’t as enthusiastic, saying bail is meant to ensure a person appears in court or is not a threat.
“It’s being used by Judge Garvey as a deterrent, and that’s not what bond is for,” said Terence Niehoff, a defense attorney.
Another defense lawyer, Robert Taaffe, said jail time doesn’t scare repeat or violent offenders arrested for gun crimes because they already know the risk.
“There’s no empirical proof that this is stopping street violence,” Taaffe said. “All it’s doing is empowering the police to go harass more people.”
But Jens Ludwig, director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, said imposing immediate jail time seems to deter impressionable youths from carrying guns.
“What St. Louis is doing is really cutting edge in terms of thinking about a problem we hear about from talking to cops everywhere,” he noted.
Isom said it is difficult to pinpoint why homicides are down. “But if I had to put a finger on it ... the only thing that has changed is the court system started to put $30,000 bonds on people carrying illegal weapons.”
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