St. Louis chief says police will intervene early if crime starts

St. Louis police will increase security and intervene more quickly if violence erupts after a night of unrest, Chief Sam Dotson said today.

"You will see a large police presence, and when crime starts, you'll see an intervention much more quickly than we did last night," Dotson told reporters today at a news briefing in the city. "We do not tolerate window smashing, looting, crime."

Following a Missouri grand jury's decision not to charge a white police officer in the killing of an unarmed black teenager, businesses in nearby Ferguson were looted, police cars burned on the street and more than a dozen buildings torched. The mayhem occurred even though officials had months to prepare since the panel began hearing evidence Aug. 20 about Officer Darren Wilson's killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown,

City police made 21 arrests, including 15 felonies such as burglary and weapons charges, he said. The St. Louis County Police Department said it arrested 61 people.

The region's police, operating under a unified command, were prepared despite the violence in Ferguson, Dotson said.

"We had a very good plan," he said. "It was just a lot of people, and I think our resources were overwhelmed."

Military Presence

St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay was the first official in the region to call for an active National Guard presence, requesting 400 officers for his city in a Nov. 18 letter. Dotson credited that plan with limiting the damage.

"The plan that we had with the National Guard to deploy them throughout the city at about 45 locations, I believe did have a positive impact," Dotson told reporters. He said police saw people looking to commit crimes deterred by police or Guardsmen.

Governor Jay Nixon activated the Missouri National Guard and declared a state of emergency last week, saying "violence will not be tolerated" and "public safety demands that we are fully prepared."

Before the grand-jury announcement last night, Nixon said the National Guard would secure critical facilities such as firehouses, police stations and utility substations to "free up" police to do their jobs.

"I don't think we were under-prepared," St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said during a press briefing early this morning. "Unless we bring 10,000 policemen in here, I don't think we can prevent folks that really are intent on just destroying a community."