ST. LOUIS – Tuesday, businessman and Republican gubernatorial candidate John Brunner has attacked Missouri’s top law enforcement official in the state, Attorney General Chris Koster, for St. Louis’ continued position as the nation’s top havens for violent crime.
Citing numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation which found rates of murder, aggravated assault, rape and robbery were higher in St. Louis than in any other major city, Brunner essentially called Koster soft on crime.
“The silence from Chris Koster on the issue of violent crime in St. Louis is deafening, and Missourians can’t afford to stand by idly while he decides if it’s in his political interest to do anything about it,” Brunner said in a statement. “In eight years as serving as Missouri’s Chief Law Enforcement official Koster has continually failed to secure the safety of our citizens and get the most violent members of society off of our streets.”
St. Louis beat out Memphis; Detroit; Birmingham, Alabama; and Rockford, Illinois for the top spot of the nation’s most dangerous city; it has popped in and out of the top ranking and knocked around the top 10 since the early 1990s when rankings were first produced. St. Louis has 88.1 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, according to the most recent FBI data, and the city of nearly 320,000 had 92 homicides last year. Larger cities had more murders, but St. Louis had one of the largest murder rates.
Brunner said the solution was to bring economic stability to the region, though he did not mention specific programs, and criticized Koster and Gov. Jay Nixon for failing to solve these problems.
“Our state government has a basic core mission and responsibility to keep our streets, our homes, our neighborhoods, and our families safe and secure,” Brunner said. “Career politicians like Governor Jay Nixon and Attorney General Chris Koster have failed in that mission and responsibility.”
This exchange marks the second time in as many weeks that Brunner and Koster have butted heads on campaign positions. Koster called out Brunner for remarks he made denouncing the renewable fuel standard. Brunner claimed he had a straightforward talk with the Missouri Corn Growers Association about how he was unafraid to disagree with the agricultural lobby, but the MCGA claimed that Brunner did not actually bring up the renewable fuel standard.
