What I found when we looked closer
East St. Louis peaked at 82,366 residents in 1950 and had 18,469 by 2020. The city still covers about 14.4 square miles of Metro East, across the Mississippi from the Gateway Arch, with interstate traffic from I-55/70 running through it.
The area to patrol has not shrunk with the population, so a smaller department covers the same streets. Every hour an officer spends on paperwork is an hour a part of the city goes without a car.
Following one report through the building
The first thing we do with a new department is trace where a report goes after the officer hits submit. Here, it passes through 4 hands:
- 1Patrol officer
- 2Sergeant
- 3Detectives
- 4St. Clair County state’s attorney
Every one of those readers needs the same facts from the first draft. That is what shaped what we built.
What we built for them
A smaller department covers 14 square miles. Drafts from footage get the car back on the road sooner.
What we're watching
These are the signals that will tell us whether it's working here:
- Hours per week returned to patrol
- Same-shift report completion
- Supervisor returns per report
Figures on this page come from the department's own published materials. We only publish Code Four results after the department reviews them.
