1a/ CRIME DATA 📈

I discovered that the FBI published incorrect 2021 crime totals for St. Louis, after the police department stopped sending required crime reports to the Highway Patrol for 8 months. 🚔

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/how-much-crime-is-in-st-louis-fbi-gets-numbers-wrong-after-city-fell-behind/article_aae53e3c-5604-56d3-b839-cec0f7cc239d.html

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #police #fbi #crime #crimedata #nibrs #ucr

1b/ St. Louis' 8-month pause in reporting crime data, coupled with a bug in the FBI's system, caused the bureau to count St. Louis' 11 months of reported data for 2021 as if it was a full year's worth.

The FBI acknowledged the mistake after I found the bureau's annual totals were up to 15% lower than those in the Missouri Highway Patrol's portal.

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #police #fbi #crime #crimedata #nibrs #ucr

1c/ Missouri law requires police to submit crime data to the Highway Patrol and allows DPS to penalize noncompliant agencies. 👮

Despite that, DPS awarded St. Louis police two grants in June and July worth more than $110,000, even though STL was six months behind in reporting at that point. 💵

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #police #fbi #crime #crimedata #nibrs #ucr

2a / SINGLE-FAMILY HOMES

Across the St. Louis area, out-of-state investors have been gobbling up affordable single-family homes and converting them to rentals, transforming neighborhoods, particularly in North County. 🏡

Steph Kukuljan put together a really compelling story, driven by my analysis of tons of assessor data. 📈

https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/how-out-of-state-companies-are-buying-up-homes-and-changing-the-st-louis-area/article_279a03be-7944-5bd9-8d22-2a4eb436bbe3.html

2b/ One example: Most of the 16 homes on Courtyard Place were owner-occupied 20 years ago. Today, just two are. Out-of-state companies own nine, and smaller investors the rest.

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #realestate #property #home

2c/ The five biggest out-of-state investors own more than 3,500 single-family homes across St. Louis.

My analysis showed their holdings are concentrated in North County, though they also have footprints in south city, O’Fallon, Mo., and other areas.

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #realestate #property #home

3a/ DIVERSITY IN N. COUNTY

I analyzed census data and election data and found that though North St. Louis County neighborhoods have grown more racially diverse, local government representation had not. 👥

I spent my school-age years growing up in Florissant and Hazelwood in North St. Louis County, so it was fascinating to work with Jesse Bogan on this story.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/north-st-louis-county-neighborhoods-grow-more-diverse-but-local-government-representation-lags/article_f49779a4-cbd9-59de-b03d-f1369aaad9ae.html

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #diversity #demographics #census

3b/ For this story, I made my first dot-density map. It's a really effective way to see how the residential populations of Bridgeton, Hazelwood, and Florissant changed since the last census.

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #diversity #demographics #census #graphics #maps #dataviz

3c/ The story was born as I was gathering maps from St. Louis-area municipalities that redistricted last year.

I noticed that Hazelwood had made radical-looking changes to its some of its wards, and I wondered why.

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #diversity #demographics #census #graphics #maps #dataviz

4a/ TRAFFIC DANGERS

I analyzed years of traffic data and found that deaths and crashes have spiked along Chambers Road in north St. Louis County has grown since 2014.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/it-s-like-a-highway-here-deaths-crashes-spike-on-north-st-louis-county-road/article_6d5e1e7a-e8dd-589a-a910-621222fa4811.html

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #traffic #road #cars #safety #graphics #maps #dataviz

4b/ My analysis found 22 people were killed in traffic accidents on Chambers Road from 2017-21, nearly four times the previous five-year total. 🚗

In contrast, deaths rose 35% across the rest of St. Louis County roads across the same periods.

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #traffic #road #cars #safety #graphics #maps #dataviz

4c/ Crashes are up all along Chambers in recent years, not just at the busiest intersections.

In fact, accidents have declined at the high-volume West Florissant intersection.

#journalismus #journalism #datajournalism #newspaper #news #traffic #road #cars #safety #graphics #maps #dataviz