Three crimes this week in St. Pete recall themes from last week’s CL story “Damage Control;†namely, a rising murder rate, declining numbers of police officers and frustrated residents who are relying on weapons instead of the police to protect themselves.
The first crime happened over the weekend. Miguel Bell was found dead in an alley off 21st Street South. Police say he had been shot multiple times. That makes Miguel the 23rd person murdered in St. Petersburg so far this year.
Then Tuesday evening, Derrick Pittis averted a home invasion when he shot an armed man who broke into his garage. The Times reports that Pittis recently bought his handgun after two people were killed during home invasions.
That same night, a man fleeing police sped the wrong way down I-275 and struck an oncoming car, killing a passenger and injuring three others.
According to the police reports, 32-year-old Charles Hicks first attempted to ram two police cruisers with his 1996 Ford Escort. When officers followed the Escort, Hicks drove the wrong way onto an I-275 exit ramp. Per department policy, officers did not pursue him as he sped the wrong way down the interstate. By the time police (traveling the right way on the interstate) caught up with the Escort, Hicks had already collided with another car.
Neighborhood activists will no doubt point to these three incidents as proof that St. Pete has a crime problem (Check out this week's Influencer feature for Karl Nurse's take on St. Pete crime). One of the main factors, they say, is the amount of officers leaving the department. Police union officials have told me some officers are leaving because of restrictive policies that they say prevent them from fighting crime. Policies like the department’s no-chase rules that prevented officers from aggressively pursuing last night’s reckless driver.
I’m guessing several cops are none too happy about that.
This article appears in Sep 26 – Oct 2, 2007.
