ST. LOUIS, MO – September 1, 2026 (STL.News) Leaders – Help – At what point do elected officials become responsible for the consequences of refusing help?
America needs to start asking that question, because people are dying while politicians argue. I’m tired of listening to it!
Chicago just endured another horrific weekend. Chicago police reported 41 people shot in 22 shooting incidents between Friday evening and Sunday night. Three people were killed. Fifteen people were shot in a single attack at Washington Park, where 35-year-old Rontonio Guterz died.
President Donald Trump responded by again demanding tougher federal intervention in Chicago. Read our article titled “Trump Warns Chicago Will Die Without Federal Help.” Is he wrong? He doesn’t appear to be.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have repeatedly resisted Trump’s National Guard approach.
Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer hasbattledMissouri’sss state-controlled Board of Police Commissioners over police funding and recently questioned how an ATF-led federal violent-crime surge began without consulting her or the board.
Compare those political battles with Memphis.
Memphis Mayor Paul Young is a Democrat. He has disagreed with Trump. He initially questioned the need for National Guard personnel.
But when additional federal and state resources came to Memphis, his city worked with them.
The result should make every mayor and governor in America pay attention.
By August 7, the Memphis Safe Task Force had made 11,592 arrests, including 117 homicide arrests and 1,180 firearms-related arrests. Authorities reported arresting 1,250 known gang members and seizing 2,002 illegal firearms.
The operation combines federal, state and local law enforcement with Tennessee National Guard support.
Those numbers do not prove that every arrest prevented a murder, and they don’t mean every aspect of the operation was flawless. A recent fatal shooting involving National Guard personnel is under investigation after an autopsy raised serious questions about the official account of the encounter.
Accountability applies to federal authorities too.
But more than 11,000 arrests and 2,000 illegal firearms seized demonstrate something that should be obvious:
Additional resources create additional law-enforcement capacity.
So why are politicians fighting over accepting help?
And at what point, when they refuse potentially effective assistance, and people continue dying, does some of that blood land on their hands?
Chicago Should Be Begging for Every Useful Resource
Donald Trump did not creatChicago’s’s violent-crime problem.
JB Pritzker did not create it personally.
Brandon Johnson did not create decades of violence by himself; today’s leaders are responsible for today’s decisions.
That distinction matters.
Chicago has made progress against crime, and politicians deserve to point that out. But declining crime does not mean crime is acceptable.
Forty-one people being shot over one weekend is not acceptable.
Three people being killed is not acceptable.
Fifteen people being shot in one park is not acceptable.
Government telling residents that things used to be worse is not acceptable. Trump’s claim that Chicago violence has never been worse is historically inaccurate. Chicago has experienced considerably deadlier periods.
But Trump’s exaggeration misses the larger issue.
Forty-one people were still shot.
Imagine being the mother of one of those victims and listening to politicians argue that Trump’s description of Chicago was statistically precise.
Would you care?
Or would you want every qualified person available trying to find the shooter?
Pritzker has said he supports FBI and ATF cooperation. In a previous interview, when directly asked whether more federal agents would help, he responded positively and specifically mentioned the FBI and ATF.
Good.
Then expand it.
If Chicago needs another 100 federal agents, ask for them.
If it needs 500, ask.
If U.S. Marshals can clear outstanding warrants faster than an overwhelmed local system, bring them in.
If ATF can connect recovered guns with shootings through ballistic intelligence, use it.
If FBI investigators can help dismantle violent organizations, welcome them.
If federal prosecutors can build qualifying cases against dangerous offenders, cooperate with them.
And if National Guard personnel can perform lawful support functions that free trained police officers and federal agents to concentrate on actual law enforcement, evaluate that proposal seriously instead of reflexively turning it into another Trump-versus-Democrats fight.
The National Guard is not a magical solution to homicide.
Neither is any police department.
But the argument that additional personnel, additional surveillance, additional investigative resources and increased certainty of apprehension cannot affect criminal behavior defies both common sense and substantial criminological research.
People behave differently when they believe they will be caught.
The National Institute of Justice has repeatedly emphasized that the certainty of apprehension is a stronger deterrent than merely increasing punishment after conviction.
This principle isn’t complicated.
People behave differently when authority is watching.
Criminals do too.
The question isn’t whether more uniforms automatically produce less crime.
The question is whether effectively deployed additional personnel improves the government’s ability to detect, investigate, and apprehend offenders.
Of course they can!
The argument should be about how to use them—not whether accepting them gives Trump political credit.
Memphis Shows What Cooperation Looks Like
Memphis provides the comparison Chicago and St. Louis should study.
Mayor Paul Young is noaRedidn’tannnn.
He didn’t have to end.
He didn’t have to campaign.
He didn’t have to pretend he agreed with every federal policy.
He had to be mayor.
The City of Memphis says its Safe Task Force includes National Guard members, Tennessee Highway Patrol officers, and agents from more than 13 federal agencies.
The National Guard acts largely as a force multiplier and additional eyes and ears while federal, state, and local law-enforcement personnel perform their respective functions.
The enforcement numbers are enormous.
As of August 7:
- 11,592 arrests.
- 117 homicide arrests.
- 1,180 firearms arrests.
- 1,250 known gang members arrested.
- 2,002 illegal firearms seized.
Earlier in the operation, authorities also reported locating more than 100 missing children.
Memphis police and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation provide intelligence about crime hot spots and high-risk offenders. U.S. Marshals teams pursue fugitives and outstanding warrants. FBI personnel have provided investigative and forensic assistance. National Guard personnel provide a visible presence. That’shat cooperation looks like. isn’tisn’t tender. isn’tisn’t a Republican takeover of a Democratic city.
It is government doing what taxpayers already pay government to do.
Protect people.
And Memphis provides an especially devastating response to the argument that Democratic officials cannot cooperate with Trump.
They can.
Paul Young did.
That leaves a harder question for other Democratic leaders:
If Memphis can put politics aside, didn’t you have to agree with Trump to recognize the value of additional resources?
That is leadership.
St. Louis Needs Help, Not Another Turf War
No consideration of Louis’ issues. St. Louis’ problems existed decades before Cara Spencer became mayor. She inherited them.
But inheritance does not eliminate responsibility.
A new CEO who inherits a failing company isn’t blamed for creating every problem.
The CEO is judged by what happens next.
St. Louis has struggled with violent crime, population loss, deteriorating infrastructure, downtown vacancy and police staffing problems.
SLMPD remains hundreds of commissioned officers below authorized staff. Missouri’s state-controlled Police Board has spent months fighting over police funding.
The board sought a police budget exceeding $250 million before certain additional employment and public-safety costs.
Spencer warned that meeting the request would require severe cuts; that’s the answer to the safety question.
How many police officers does St. Louis actually need?
If the answer is more than St. Louis currently has, how will City Hall obtain them?
If the city can’t afford more officers, wouldn’t it aggressively welcome outside personnel who can supplement the department? Right now, the city lacks the resources or skills to fix them. It could and probably would fix them.
That question became even more important in August when ATF announced a DOJ-sponsored 60-day violent-crime surge.
ATF is working with SLMPD, the FBI, the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, the Attorney General’s Office, and other agencies.
The mission is straightforward: target violent offenders, disrupt criminal networks, and interrupt illegal firearms trafficking.
ATF is also bringing sophisticated ballistic and crime-gun intelligence capabilities.
Chief Robert Tracy welcomed it.
He called the arrangement a “win-win situation.”
Exactly.
But Spencer questioned why the police weren’t consulted.
There is nothing wrong with government oversight.
Plenty is wrong with letting a jurisdictional argument overshadow the objective.
If Chief Tracy has additional ATF agents available to investigate gun crime while his department wouldn’t be, would he use them?
If federal investigators can do work that frees SLMPD officers for other assignments, why wouldn’t they use them?
If federal resources can connect shootings, identify traffickers and apprehend offenders, why would St. Louis taxpayers want those resources sitting somewhere else?
The question isn’t whether she was consulted early enough.
It is:
Mayor, do these resources make St. Louis safer?
If yes, help them succeed.
If no, explain exactly why.
And if you have something better, show us.
If This Were a Company, the Board Would Demand Answers?
Consider the CEO’s perspective.
Your organization is understaffed.
Customers are leaving.
Your reputation has deteriorated.
Revenue opportunities are disappearing.
Critical infrastructure requires enormous investment.
You tell your board that you cannot afford enough employees.
Then somebody offers additional experienced personnel and specialized resources; you don’t have to recruit, train, and employ them.
Imagine telling your board.
“No thanks. I disagree with the people; I wouldn’t be praised for leadership.
They would ask whether you could run the organization.
Government deserves at least the same level of scrutiny.
St. Louis desperately needs investment. LaClede’s Landing needs tenants and customers.
Restaurants need people walking through their doors.
Developers need tenants.
Convention organizers need visitors.
Employees need confidence about working downtown.
Public safety is therefore not merely another expenditure.
It is economic infrastructure.
Government understands this principle everywhere else.
Cities accept federal transportation money.
They seek federal infrastructure grants.
They request disaster assistance.
They seek housing funds.
They pursue economic-development dollars.
They lobby Washington for federal projects.
They happily accept federal money when it helps accomplish their political priorities.
So explain why additional federal law-enforcement capacity suddenly becomes objectionable.
If the city needs resources and Washington offers useful resources, politicians’ Hands?
This brings us to the question politicians would rather avoid.
When do they have blood on their hands?
The criminal who pulls the trigger is responsible for pulling the trigger.
Nothing changes that.
But government responsibility doesn’t end there.
Suppose a mayor knows the police department is severely understaffed.
Suppose people continue being shot.
Suppose additional trained personnel are available.
Suppose federal investigators are available.
Suppose fugitive teams are available.
Suppose prosecutors are available.
Suppose intelligence resources are available.
Suppose another city has demonstrated that coordinated deployment of those resources can result in thousands of arrests and thousands of illegal firearms being removed.
Now suppose the mayor or governor deliberately prevents those resources from being used—not because they are ineffective, not because they are unlawful, not because there is a demonstrably better plan, but because of politics.
People continue dying.
At what point does that politician acquire responsibility?
Our that’s that’s
At that, that’s what having bones on one’s hands medoesn’tt doesn’t mean: the politician committed murder.
It means the politician possessed authority, understood the danger, had reasonable options available, and deliberately made a decision that left potentially effective resources unused.
The criminal owns the crime.
The politician owns the decision.
And decisions have consequences.
Politicians cannot demand authority without accepting responsibility.
They cannot claim credit when homicide declines and declare themselves powerless when homicide rises.
They cannot tell residents the police department is understaffed and then resist additional workforce without explaining why.
They cannot say government lacks money while refusing resources from another level of government without showing those resources would do more harm than good.
And they cannot spend years criticizing others’ solutions without eventually producing their own results.
There must be a point at which failure becomes accountability.
Otherwise elections mean nothing.
Accountability Must Apply to Trump Too
The same standard must apply to Donald Trump and federal authorities.
If federal personnel violate the law, investigate them.
If National Guard personnel abuse their authority, hold them accountable.
If federal operations fail to reduce crime, publish the numbers.
If tactics make communities less safe, change them.
A recent Memphis case demonstrates why that oversight matters.
Tennessee National Guard personnel participating in the task force fatally shot 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson in July. Authorities said Johnson turned toward Guard members with a firearm while fleeing.
But an autopsy obtained by The Associated Press showed that Johnson was shot in the back, raising serious questions about the circumstances. The shooting remains under investigation.
We cannot brush that aside simply because we support aggressive law enforcement.
Accountability means accountability.
Nobody gets immunity from scrutiny because we agree with the mission.
Not Trump.
Not federal agents.
Not National Guard personnel.
Not Democratic mayors.
Not Republican governors.
Nobody disputes that thousands of arrests were made, thousands of illegal firearms were seized, and fugitives were removed from the streets.
Investigate wrongdoing.
Correct mistakes.
Prosecute criminal misconduct when evidence supports that; that’s competent leadership.
Stop Talking and Start Listening
They need good, doesn’t
They need government to function.
Democratic officials don’t have to like Trump.
Trump doesn’t have to like Democratic mayors.
Cara Spencer doesn’t have to like Missouri’s Police Board.
JB Pritzker doesn’t have to like Trump’s rhetoric.
Brandon Johnson doesn’t have to endorse Republican politics.
Nobody is asking them to marry each other.
It should be the minimum requirement of public office.
Forty-one people were shot in Chicago over one weekend.
That should be louder than Donald Trump.
Louder than JB Pritzker.
Louder than Brandon Johnson.
Louder than political parties.
Every one of those victims represents a human being whose life mattered more than the political argument surrounding the response.
When politicians spend more energy fighting the people offering assistance than fighting the criminals terrorizing their communities, something has gone profoundly wrong.
Memphis offers another path.
A Democratic mayor can disagree with Trump and still cooperate.
Federal, state, and local authorities can work together.
The National Guard can support, not replace, local Police.
Federal agents can pursue fugitives.
Local officers can provide intelligence.
Different governments can contribute different resources toward the same objective.
That is what America should demand.
Not Republican policing.
Not Democratic policing.
Effective policing.
If something works, expand it.
If something fails, change it.
If somebody offers useful help, accept it.
And if politicians refuse effective, lawful assistance because their pride, party, or political ambitions matter more than cooperation, voters should remember every decision.
Because public office is not merely about possessing power.
It is about accepting responsibility for what you do with it.
And when politicians know people are dying, know their existing resources are inadequate, know additional resources are available and deliberately stand in the way without offering something better, they should stop pretending their hands are clean.
At some point, the blood reaches them too.
