City of St. Louis Outlines Violence Prevention Efforts, Summer Fun STL Youth Programming Locations Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend

Today, St. Louis officials announced plans to keep neighborhoods safe ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. In addition to concentrated patrols by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the City of St. Louis is working to expand youth programming efforts across the city to keep young people engaged throughout the summer months in safe and supportive environments.

“Our summer violence prevention work is a multi-pronged, data-driven approach to deter crime and protect St. Louisans,” said Senior Public Safety Advisor Heather Taylor. “We are working every day to keep St. Louis residents and their families safe this summer by pulling together both law enforcement and community resources.”

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department will be strategically deploying patrols throughout the city, using data to determine peak times and locations for enforcement. This summer violence prevention detail will mobilize resources including traffic enforcement, air support, specialized units, park rangers, deputy marshals, and collaboration with the Sheriff’s Office. Public Safety has also developed an incident mass notification system with federal partners, highway patrol, and local agencies, to help the City of St. Louis with investigating mass shootings and large scale incidents involving violence.

“The safety of citizens and visitors in the City of St. Louis is our top priority,” said Lt. Col. Michael Sack, Commander of the Bureau of Community Policing. “We will continue working closely with our city and community partners to identify ways to address violent crime and utilize necessary resources to assist with those efforts.”

The City is also looking to non-enforcement solutions to help keep youth safe this summer as children get out of school. Using $1 million in Community Development Block Grant funding, the City of St. Louis has partnered with St. Louis Public Schools, and other community leaders to stand up Summer Fun STL summer camps, programs, and pop-up events to keep youth safe in fun and educational environments in the summer months. The seven locations, located in SLPS schools, will open June 6 and run through July 29, providing recreational and educational activities and three full meals a day to 700 youth ages five to 17. City’s free summer camps are also running at seven recreation centers and still accepting registrants. The Gateway Region YMCA will also hold youth pop-ups and other events with funding granted through the Prop S Youth at Risk Program.

“From these new youth programming locations to the City’s summer camps at our recreation centers, we’re looking to make sure youth have a safe place to go to have fun this summer,” said Mayor’s Office Director of Children, Youth and Families Wilford Pinkney. “We’re appreciative of St. Louis Public Schools for working alongside us to provide locations across the city and to all of our partners in the St. Louis Youth Development Collaborative to make Summer Fun STL an option for more than a thousand youth and their families.”

A list of locations is below. Learn more about these opportunities, as well as other summer programming options, on the City’s website.

Nance Elementary - 8959 Riverview Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63147
Contact Girls Inc. for registration: (314) 385 - 8088

Oak Hill Elementary - 4300 MorganFord Rd, St. Louis, MO 63116
Contact Girls Inc. for registration: (314) 385 - 8088

Ashland Elementary - 3921 N Newstead Ave, St. Louis, MO 63115
Contact Girls Inc. for registration: (314) 385 - 8088

Walbridge Elementary - 5000 Davison Ave, St. Louis, MO 63120
Contact Girls Inc. for registration (314) 385 - 8088

Patrick Henry Downtown - 1220 N 10th St, St. Louis, MO 63106
Contact Girls Inc. for registration (314) 385 - 8088

Yeatman Middle School - 4265 Athlone Ave, St. Louis, MO 63115
Contact the Sophia Project for registration: (314) 807-8333

Peabody Elementary School - 1224 S 14th St, St. Louis, MO 63104
Contact Northside Youth for registration (314) 723- 3069

These efforts build on previously announced measures taking place. The City is working with businesses Downtown to have visible presence during peak hours at their properties downtown for additional deterrence. Earlier this month, AirBnB announced a block on some single-night reservations during both Memorial Day weekend and July 4th weekend of entire home listings in St. Louis and throughout the United States in an effort to prevent unauthorized and disruptive parties. Specifically in St. Louis, nearly 500 people were deterred from booking entire home listings over July 4th 2021 due to these defenses, with this being the first year the company is implementing the plan over Memorial Day weekend.