Community Engagement and Strategic Partnerships was established in the Circuit Attorneys’ Office (CAO) in 2017. A new staff person with years of community building experience working with neighborhood leaders and agencies has been assigned to develop a broad range of services and supports aimed at increasing public safety and improving the quality of life for children, families and neighborhoods.

Crime and violence are symptoms of a larger social problem that will require a public health approach to increase public safety and reduce harm. This means that multiple partners from various disciplines are needed. Those partnerships that include community leaders, law enforcement officers and prosecutors are necessary but not enough to address the root causes of crime and violence in the City of St. Louis. Long-term crime reduction can occur when all the parts of the criminal justice system, residents and the broader community are working together to address the root problems of crime and violence. 

Every neighborhood in the City of St. Louis has the potential to reduce crime.  Through community engagement the CAO is working to tap into that potential. Every time an individual chooses to partner with law enforcement and the prosecutor’s office to reduce crime and violence, our city gets closer to preventing and reducing crime. Our city gets even closer when schools, employers, behavioral and physical health providers and lending institutions become partners as well.

We invite you to contact our office at 314-589-6247 or go to the Neighborhood Ownership Model page to learn more about how to get involved.