Building Back Broken Communities - The Ongoing Struggle For East St. Louis

East St. Louis is a city that has struggled with just about every possible difficulty that a community can be subjected to. High crime rates, lack of job opportunities for its residents, and a plethora of other issues have resulted in the city losing over 75% of its population since peaking in the 1950s. At various points, the city has had the highest per-capita murder rate in the entire nation. With such a negative public perception, attracting businesses to invest in the area, despite being in a very desirable geographic location for shipping and transportation, has been extraordinarily difficult. 

While the fight is still ongoing and the broader issues are far from solved, several efforts have made substantial progress in East St. Louis. In particular, the ISP’s Public Safety Enforcement Group (PSEG) has made great strides in facilitating effective collaboration between local and state agencies. In a partnership that was previously unprecedented, Illinois State Police officers have worked alongside and pooled resources with East St. Louis Police officers, resulting in more solved cases, more convictions, and an overall decline in the city’s crime rates during the program’s tenure.

In this episode our host, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly, will be speaking with and hearing the story of Brittany Williams, a local woman who was unexpectedly caught in the crossfire of a shootout while at an East St. Louis gas station with her family, ultimately resulting in her nephew being killed and her son being hospitalized.

We will also be joined by several individuals involved in the ongoing fight to save East St. Louis and to enable it to build back stronger, from the perspectives of both law enforcement, with representatives from the local police department and the ISP, and from community outreach organizations from the area, such as the Community Lifeline Center.