On Saturday a Brentwood police officer took a homeless woman to a shelter in St. Louis from Brentwood. Someone took a photo of the woman, and others, being dropped off at the New Life Evangelical Center (NLEC), posted it on Twitter, saying the officer “dumped” the group downtown.
Brentwood Chief of Police Dan Fitzgerald responded by email to 40 South News: “Our officer called NLEC and made arrangements to bring the young lady there. We are proud of his caring response,” he said. “She was not ‘dumped.'”
Others responded on Twitter, saying what Brentwood police did was illegal, troubling, sad, but others were concerned that there are limited options for the homeless in St. Louis County and St. Louis city ends up caring for them.
See also: BJC Behavioral Health helps homeless man off the streets in Brentwood
Update: Tweets are updated with response from Brentwood PD on Twitter, and a response to that from 24th Ward St. Louis Alderman Scott Ogilvie.
https://storify.com/dougminer1/brentwood-police
I’m pretty sure a law that refers to “pauper or insane person(s)” coming by way of steamboat, needs some refreshing.
Great Work Brentwood Police!! I’m proud to live in a community of caring people, where a homeless woman is taken to a shelter, instead of a jail, where most homeless people in our communities end up.
Tip of the hat to the officer for helping a fellow human in need. Wag of the finger to St Louis County for having nowhere for the officer to take her.
So, a police officer goes above and beyond the call of duty to ensure that a HUMAN BEING doesn’t freeze on the streets, and somehow that then gets spun into a selfish act of dumping someone right out on the streets so she could just be the city’s problem, not the county’s? Brilliant. And we wonder where the disconnect between law officers and the public comes from? Where’s the humanity people?? Do you want the police to serve and protect, like REALLY serve and protect, or would you rather them ignore a human being in distress, out in single digit temperatures and just look the other way? You can’t have it both ways! Did all you people that are claiming this person got dumped off, actually ask ANYONE the circumstances surrounding the situation before jumping on twitter and spouting off? All those that took the time to get on social media to bash the officer over an act of kindness, need to log off, get over yourselves, and maybe try following his example of kindness and compassion towards someone in need. Do it without expecting anything in return, just like he was trying to do. He wasn’t trying to get praised, acknowledged or even a pat on the back. But he did get noticed, and then he was made out to be a villain. ARE YOU KIDDING?? What have YOU done to make a difference for others less fortunate? If the system is broke, do something to help fix it. You just might make a positive difference in this world. Kindness and compassion don’t stop at the city limits….or even ward 7.
No matter what the Police do they are always bashed. The Officer did the right thing by making arrangements to get shelter for the woman. So tired of hearing how he broke the law taking her there. Those of you that are saying that….do you know that she had been living in the City or County previously? No you don’t!!! If this is such an issue of City and County taxes , then keep all the City people from coming to the County and Stealing!!!! Those are our tax dollars. Get over yourselves!!!!!! The officer did bring her to the station and fed her and got her warm while making arrangements for her. Good job Officer!!!
Brentwood PD and this officer in particular, thank you for caring. This shows that our officers are first and foremost humans and he did the human thing by helping someone in need. He made arrangements for the woman so that she wouldn’t freeze to death during this horrible cold. You guys can judge all you want from your well heated homes but this woman had very few options and the County doesn’t have much in place for them. Something that certainly should be fixed but nothing to vilify a good person for.
Also I’d like to put forth the idea that 7th Ward Woman should offer to take the homeless woman in personally. No? Where should the homeless go then? Because taking them to a shelter is apparently “dumping” so I guess if she wouldn’t take her in that means she’d dump her too? Quite easy to judge from a high horse yet actually do nothing.
Where should the homeless go? Downtown St. Louis shouldn’t be the only option.
The problem is that a St. Louis County municipality had no place in the County to assist the person. The officer had no other options but to take them to St. Louis City. This is a regional problem that needs to solved regionally. Downtown shouldn’t be the only place for the entire metro area’s homeless to find assistance.
He should be commended, not bashed, with the temperatures this weekend there were not many options and he made sure she was taken to a safe warm place. You people that are criticizing should be ashamed. What alternative do you see?
The Brentwood officer had no option but to break the law: that’s the problem.
Let’s say that Brentwood had a homeless shelter but that other municipalities didn’t and were taking people out of their town and dropping them off. How would you feel in Brentwood?
This is about the bigger issue with our divided region. Whether it be schools, policing, homelessness or the Rams leaving, having nearly 100 different little towns in the County and a virtual wall along Skinker/McCausland/River Des Peres only makes things worse.
I hardly think that the officer was breaking the law. Go back and read the first part. It refers to a “person who is likely to become a charge on the city”. Since the person was dropped off in the care of a non-profit, they are obviously not a charge of the city.
All of these people on Twitter bashing Brentwood PD but none of them offered an alternative. What should the officer have done instead? Should they have left her freezing on the street? I’m proud that my police care enough to have helped this woman and gotten her to a safe, warm place. No, there are not any homeless shelters in the county but that is not the fault of the Brentwood Police Department. Instead of bashing the kindness of our police why don’t the critics open their homes?
Here here!
That officer deserves a commendation for doing the right thing and going above and beyond the call of duty. He represents the “City of Warmth” well.
The police haters are going to hate. Nothing the police do can ever be right. But this officer, and the rest of us, know in our hearts, that he did the right thing.
Brentwood alderman and mayor Thornton, pleas consider giving this officer a commendation.
Why all the negative comments? The Police are trying to help her . Brentwood doesn’t have a place to care for the homeless and I’m sure if the lady didn’t want to go she wouldn’t have. It’s not like the Police drop her off on a street and speed off , they were helping her .
Distantly related to this topic- does anyone know what happened to Johnny Lee? He was/is a tall black man with obvious mental health issues (hearing voices, talking out loud to himself, etc.) but very cordial and totally nonviolent. He used to hang around the area of Radio Shack or Walgreens with a shopping cart. I would talk with him, bring him food, etc. but have not seen him in several years. He hung around Brentwood for MANY years and did not want to be taken to a shelter or helped to find housing (I discussed this with him). I was happy that Brentwood officials let him stay in the community, but I have no idea where he was when I did not see him on the streets. Anyway, anyone have any news about Johnny Lee?
https://40southnews.com/bjc-helps-homeless-man-off-the-streets-in-brentwood/
Is this him? I remembered seeing the post here a while ago.
Look for BJC behavioral health helps homeless man… on 40 South. A social worker took an interest and he was living in an apartment in south St. Louis. I heard something about him maybe living with a brother. Iused to bring him food as well and he was always very pleasant.
would all of these outraged twitter commenters prefer the homeless be left on the street to suffer? If the officer called the shelter to make arrangements, perhaps he/she needs to better understand the county options… but its certainly an appropriate action.
Thank you to the Brentwood PD for caring so much to help this women get out of the horrible weather.