Tipping Point: Thousands of vacant buildings take heavy toll on St. Louis police, firefighters
But just by standing there, the city's empty and broken buildings leach untold amounts of money from taxpayers.
Pick virtually any address among the estimated 7,000 to 12,000 vacant structures in
Fire and police officials say it's hard to know exactly how much the buildings where no one lives or works are costing taxpayers. But they can point to some statistics.
They know, for example, that vacant buildings account for more than 40 percent of the fires they have to fight each year.
The cost depends on how many companies respond, when the buildings catch fire and the complexity of the subsequent investigation, Fire Chief
"Does fighting fires in vacant buildings keep us good at what we do? Yes," he said. "But if we had fewer of them, we could concentrate on fire safety and prevention work in the community rather than our tactics."
Police officers, too, could perform more community outreach if they didn't have to spend time on structures that serve as a nexus for criminal activity.
A
Police response to those calls can require the presence of ambulances, animal control or more police units. Some calls take hours and involve multiple officers combing through evidence of crimes that can include dogfighting, drug activity and homicide. Officers often have to remove squatters -- people who turn unsafe structures into refuges from the street.
In addition to responding to calls for service, the police department also devotes six police officers -- one for each district -- and Sgt.
It's not the most coveted of assignments for officers, but it's among the most important, McLaughlin says, because it affects quality of life for an immeasurable number of residents.
"One building could affect a whole block," he said.
Hidden hazards
Given the risks, some people question why firefighters bother with blazes in vacant buildings -- especially those already beyond repair. "Why don't you just let them burn?" Jenkerson says he's often asked when he is out and about in public.
He heard the question after one of his firefighters was hurt while battling a blaze at
+8
Vacant home burns, firefighter injured
Buy Now
"We can't just look at a building and say 100 percent that is a vacant, we have to assume it's occupied," Jenkerson said. "Think about it, there's no electric going to the building, no gas, and yet it's fully involved with fire belching out of every window, every doorway when we get there in the middle of the day.
"And I don't believe in rats playing with matches."
Firefighters also have to prevent flames from damaging surrounding, occupied structures, Jenkerson said.
But going into buildings that appear vacant is more hazardous for firefighters. Already unstable structures become even more unreliable as flames lick their trusses and swallow their I-beams. And sometimes, they've been stripped of bricks, woodwork and even floor vent covers as was the case along Minerva. Fire investigators discovered their comrade fell about 2 to 3 feet, hurting his ankle, because a floor vent was missing a cover, Jenkerson said.
+8
Firefighters battle a smoky fire on
Determining the cause of a fire in a vacant or abandoned building is also a greater challenge, Chief Investigator Capt.
"Fire destroys evidence and makes it hard to investigate, plus you have firefighters pouring thousands of gallons of water on it and it possibly collapsing," he said. "So the evidence, if we find it, is greatly altered."
Owens' unit did not determine the cause of the fire on Minerva, not uncommon for vacant building fires that are a risk just to investigate, he said.
"I'm not going to send an investigator into an unstable structure," he said. "And if I know a fire was intentionally set, we still have no idea who did it or why. The conviction rate on arson is one of the lowest of any crime."
But sometimes, circumstantial evidence starts to add up.
In 2015, Owens started noticing fires in vacant buildings in the
Other investigations take longer.
About four years ago, Owens grew suspicious as he began getting calls from insurance companies that were seeking reports on fires at vacant buildings. After some digging, Owens discovered people were taking out renter's insurance policies online just weeks before the vacant buildings burned. At the scenes of vacant building fires, firefighters said they noticed people who claimed to be renters. The "renters" were there to meet with insurance representatives and claim gift cards or checks to help with expenses. If anyone pressed for identification or other information, the "renters" would disappear empty-handed, Owens said.
So far, Owens says there have been more than 25 fires in vacant buildings during the past four years that fit the M.O. -- one as recently as June. Federal investigators are now on the case, so Owens did not want to say much more. But he confirmed that all the fires were in a "pretty tight geographical area in north
"I'm doing what I can to get it to stop here, but short of someone coming in and clearing all of the vacant buildings out ...," he said, pausing to talk about the balance of preserving history and keeping people safe.
"They can't burn if they're not there."
'Compliance, not closure'
Vacant buildings are interwoven into the fabric of crime in
City's vacant buildings have been magnets for crime over the years
City's vacant buildings have been magnets for crime over the years
'You wouldn't believe some of the awful things that have happened.'
"Criminals use these places to hide their guns and drugs," says McLaughlin, the sergeant assigned to the Problem Properties Unit.
In addition to McLaughlin, others who lead the unit are
"This isn't terribly sexy work," Oswald says. "But prevention is the key to stabilizing neighborhoods."
The unit swings into action after a specific address generates repeated calls for police service, or if an officer or inspector or any other member of the team sees an open vacant building. And when they do lock on to a property, that means added scrutiny, warning letters and often fines for the property owner.
+8
Police officers team with city code enforcers to stabilize vacant buildings
Buy Now
If it looks like the building is vacant and untended, the Building Division will send out a crew to secure it if the owner refuses to do so. If a hazardous building looks like it is illegally occupied, and the owner refuses to cooperate with demands to remove vagrants, the city can condemn it for occupancy. At that point, the city becomes the victim of any crime that may occur there, McLaughlin explained.
Trespassing is the most common complaint.
"In order to charge someone with trespassing, we need to have an owner who is willing to prosecute," McLaughlin said. "When that's the city, it makes our job easier."
Sometimes, building owners tell officers that they are allowing vagrants to live in the crumbling structures just to keep an eye on them, McLaughlin said. The Building Division then works to find code violations to condemn the property and require owners to apply for occupancy permits before anyone can live there again.
"We strive for compliance, not closure," Moak said.
+8
Police officers team with city code enforcers to stabilize vacant buildings
Buy Now
In the past four years, city crews have boarded up properties more than 5,700 times. But nearly a third of the time, city records show, the crews were dispatched to a building that had been previously secured. In a few cases, they've boarded up the same property as many as seven times, city officials say.
The city spends on average
Want to reduce crime? Fix vacant buildings and clean up empty lots, researchers say
Want to reduce crime? Fix vacant buildings and clean up empty lots, researchers say
'We don't have to have complex interventions to have a really big impact on crime.'
Other cities have tried another approach to board-ups: banning them.
In 2011,
City leaders hoped the efforts would boost property values and protect the housing stock from the elements that can easily pass through porous plywood. But criminologists discovered significant drops in crimes involving guns also followed when buildings and lots at least appeared to be cared for and not forgotten in
Now, other cities are following suit.
The stepped-up pace of demolitions will address just a fraction of crumbling housing stock, and that will mean board-up crews will still have plenty to do.
'I ain't going in there'
Crews -- typically two people to a truck -- often have police officers assigned to the Problem Properties Unit search inside buildings before they board them up so no one gets trapped.
+8
Police officers team with city code enforcers to stabilize vacant buildings
Buy Now
This month, a crew was dispatched to secure an empty two-story in the 1900 block of
"I ain't going in there," Douglas said. "That's why we got the police here."
"Come on out!
00:00 00:00
spaceplay / pause
qunload -- stop
ffullscreen
??volume
mmute
??seek
. seek to previous
12... 6 seek to 10%, 20% ... 60%
X
Color Settings
* Aa
* Aa
* Aa
* Aa
Text
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Background
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Opacity Settings
Text
OpaqueSemi-Transparent
Background
Semi-TransparentOpaqueTransparent
Font Settings
Size
100%
||
Type
Serif MonospaceSerifSans Serif MonospaceSans SerifCasualCursiveSmallCaps
ResetSave Settings
Two other buildings the crew visited that day couldn't be sealed shut. Officers spotted signs of life at a four-unit apartment building in the 3200 block of
"Copper Gone" was spray painted on the doors to the building's basement. A "Beware of Dog" sign dangled on a locked gate to the backyard. An SUV sat behind the structure with license plate tags dating to 2007.
+8
Police officers team with city code enforcers to stabilize vacant buildings
Buy Now
The basement entrance to a vacant home at
"I'll have to go back and research this one some more," Hein said.
At their final stop, a former business in the 1700 block of
Hein shined her flashlight in a second-story window, where she could see part of the roof had collapsed through the ceiling. A pile of broken bricks and rebar were all that remained of the back half of the structure. Hein took notes as nearby business owners gave her an earful about previous attempts to motivate the owners to clean and fix the property, and she vowed to contact them.
+8
Police officers team with city code enforcers to stabilize vacant buildings
Buy Now
Behind open doors
Combined, Hein and Edwards have about 20 years of experience working with the Problem Properties Unit. They have seen syringes, mattresses and human waste in vacant buildings. And when they do find someone, they try to connect them with social services.
"We're not just going to take these people to jail," Hein said.
McLaughlin has stories from his years in the unit, too. He recalled a time when officers had to stop a group of people who were painting walls and patching roofs on vacant buildings they didn't own and renting them out even though they didn't have utilities.
Tipping Point: Examining critical challenges facing
Tipping Point: Examining critical challenges facing
The city faces enormous challenges because of decades of disinvestment and neglect. This series looks at consequences -- and possible solutions...
"It worked for some people, paying a couple hundred bucks to have somewhere to sleep when they don't qualify to rent a legit apartment because of a criminal record or whatever," McLaughlin said.
He also recalled going inside the old St. Mary's Infirmary building on
"I turned on my flashlight and the next thing you know I've got about 40 eyes staring at me," McLaughlin said. "I was surrounded."
Not long after McLaughlin's visit, a woman was raped inside the building, he said.
The old hospital was torn down in 2016.
A vacant lot is all that remains.
___
(c)2018 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Investment Company Institute Issues Statement on House Passage of Retirement, Savings, and Other Tax Relief Act
De Blasio Announces $52 Million in Planned Capital Investment for NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan
Advisor News
- Affordability on Florida lawmakers’ minds as they return to the state Capitol
- Gen X confident in investment decisions, despite having no plan
- Most Americans optimistic about a financial ‘resolution rebound’ in 2026
- Mitigating recession-based client anxiety
- Terri Kallsen begins board chair role at CFP Board
More Advisor NewsAnnuity News
- Reframing lifetime income as an essential part of retirement planning
- Integrity adds further scale with blockbuster acquisition of AIMCOR
- MetLife Declares First Quarter 2026 Common Stock Dividend
- Using annuities as a legacy tool: The ROP feature
- Jackson Financial Inc. and TPG Inc. Announce Long-Term Strategic Partnership
More Annuity NewsHealth/Employee Benefits News
- Finance Committee supports paying more than 50% of employee health insurance costs
- Mrvan votes to reinstate expired federal health insurance subsidies
- 'Through the roof' stress as CT health insurance glitch is corrected in open enrollment
- Healey taps $250M to offset rising health insurance premiums
- Why the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s closure exposes a growing threat to democracy
More Health/Employee Benefits NewsLife Insurance News