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Thanks for joining us for Last Call.

This is where we get to the topics we didn't have time for in the first 30 minutes.

Alvin Reid, birthdays on Saturday.

Anything special planned?

Uh, no, not really.

uh that little KU Missouri game which I was I was gonna go to but then I said like you know I'm not going to fill the whole day up with travel and all that.

Not that it's that far away but I'm yeah just going to kind of hang out.

That winning the Power Ball for $2 billion.

Let me tell you what I will miss next Thursday's show if I hit the Powerball tonight.

I'm just letting you all know.

Okay.

We'll be in the win on Reed Creek.

I'm thinking if I hit the Powerball I'm missing all the shows.

All the shows.

Well, that's it for last call.

Thank you, Alvin.

I want to ask you about um Chief Robert Tracy.

Is he in trouble?

Uh the St. Louis Police Foundation announced last week that after three years of subsidizing his $175,000 salary with an extra $100,000, so he was paid $275,000.

They announced that going forward they won't do that.

So, a police chief is going to take a cut of $100,000.

Well, I mean, you know, I think when he signed on for it, he had to know that the day might come where they don't fund this anymore.

I would have thought that the second that the state took over the, you know, the police department, I would have known as the chief, I said like, I could kiss that money goodbye because the people that are investing in it, I think while they didn't think they were going to be running the police department, I did felt like, yeah, we're kind of buying some say in the police department and that's no longer there.

So, I they said like our money's no longer there.

Yeah, I don't think the foundation did anything wrong.

I mean, you say they said three years ago, we'll do this for three years.

So, they didn't promise to do any more than what they're doing.

The people in the police department should have figured out how are we going to replace this money.

So, I I don't blame the foundation.

I don't think it has to do with Tracy's performance.

I think they're like, "Okay, we gave you 300 grand."

But what I thought was so interesting is it still sounds like when it comes to the rank and file, he does not have the kind of support that you would you would think that that he that he would.

But the rank and file wants to pick their own bosses.

They got five for five out of the governor.

Now they get to chief.

Well, you know, I I've never trusted a CEO who talks about how great morale is in the rank and file.

It's generally a sign that it isn't right.

And you know, I think Tracy's done a fine job.

I mean, crime is down all around the country, but I thought it was odd in the beginning that we gave him an extra $100,000.

You know, John Hayden was a good police chief.

Exactly.

And and it wasn't like uh Chief Taylor had somewhere to go.

I mean, we were bidding against oursel if you remember.

Wilmington said we don't want we don't want him back.

And and which I I didn't blame that on Tracy.

I mean, that that was politics.

You know, when you have politicians running a police department, a police chief can run into trouble when it's not his fault.

Uh, well, let me ask you this.

They gave theund extra $100,000 so they could have a national search and get a guy from out of town.

Now, the legislation passed in May and signed by the governor says that the next police chief has to come from within the ranks of the department.

Maybe the police foundation says, "Well, if we're not going to go in that direction where we're getting the best guy in the United States, we're just going to go within the department.

We're not save ourselves."

Good point.

I agree.

I mean, that's what I'm saying.

They thought they would have more say, they basically don't.

And the police department wants to hire all of their bosses.

And if Chief Tracy can get an extra $100,000, and good for him.

I mean, who knows what his Do you think the mayor is going to come up with $100,000 for him out of Rams money or?

Oh, God.

Rams.

Well, I mean, they should have been thinking about it.

Yeah.

You know, I the the other reason the foundation might be stopping it is because they said they were going to stop.

The most obvious explanation is usually the correct one.

They said, "We'll give you the head start for three years.

You all figure out what you're going to do after that."

But if crime is down and he's the boss, why would you not continue the stipen to keep things going?

Well, crime is crime is down, too.

I mean, I'm not trying to uh badmouth Tracy, but I I just don't think you need the chief to make an extra $100,000.

We could sit and spend this whole show talking about crime numbers up and down, and you can talk about it any way you can, Bill.

Uh speaking of crime, uh you dropped by a drug market today.

Uh you did.

It was reported by St. Louis magazine that at 13th and Pine between the central library, the soldiers memorial and actually uh KMX radio and that park right there, there was an open drug market and uh objection, your honor.

Circumstantial.

I mean, my my client did not do anything wrong when he I got I got lost downtown and ended up there, Wendy.

Exactly.

So, what did you see today?

Well, then not much.

Not much.

I I wondered if it was as busy as it sounded and at least in the afternoon when I showed up, there wasn't much going on.

And I thought, well, this is probably because of the publicity.

You know, the the all the police can do, no matter how much the chief makes, is chase it from one block to another.

And and I'm sure that's what's going on.

there'll be an open air drug market, you know, two blocks away and then somebody will write about it and it'll move another couple blocks.

Well, you know, they might not be going to college in Illinois, you know, on instate tuition, but most crooks and criminals can read and when there's a story saying like there's an open air dope market right here, they know like I don't think I'll be selling dope the open air dope market today.

Over the years of covering police, those things have moved around just like the uh sexual trafficking, the prostitution used to move.

They would be on one street and then it would be a crackdown on it and it would show up six blocks away, right?

And and that's what this is.

And you catch a snapshot of an area and what happens usually is is somebody who lives in that area complains about it and it becomes an issue.

If it moves a half a mile away, that person quits complaining and somebody else complains.

I mean, it was a it was a great storyline in a program that we all have enjoyed very much.

The wire and I honestly don't have a problem with it.

I as long as it's not near you as long as as long as it's fixed and not anywhere near a residential area.

And I know that across from uh two tourist attractions, you know.

Well, no.

There was what they did was there was a a part of it was like just city that it was just kind of like this.

It was a DMZ.

It was a DMZ.

If we have tele PBS difficult time, we just figured all good PBS watchers also watch The Wire.

I've never seen The Wire.

But I will say this, the story was reported by the citizens for greater downtown St. Louis about two months ago on Twitter and I have a theory.

A lot of the journalists now in St. Louis left Twitter for political reasons and are now in blue sky.

So they probably haven't been following the reports by less Sturman's people that this thing was on Tucker for two or three months.

That's not it.

What?

Because people who are in all that social media are in all that social media.

They know where to get news and all that.

Reporters are looking to get news on social media.

They're probably looking at Twitter and have left.

I do think so.

I I know two reporters at your paper who and I think Sarah has left.

Sarah has definitely left.

Okay.

So, they left Twitter.

So, they're not aware of what's going on if citizens.

Come on, Charlie.

For downtown St. Louis journalists aren't aware of what's going on because they're not on Twitter.

I I think I in this case I think that what's going on now is being showing is getting more uh publicity because they're talking about it on social media.

But when I was covering the police back in the n late 80s and early 90s there were drug areas and then it would move and then it would move over here and it would move over here and so you covered it when something would happen.

You know you you'd go by 10 guys standing out on a corner just kind of hanging out.

you knew what they were out there for and then it would move.

So, it's always been going on.

It's just when you take that snapshot, it seems like look what's just developed.

It's always been there.

I think you're right.

And the Corner Boys were a part of Downtown Abbey, the franchise on PBS.

So, just Thank you.

Thank you for the PBS reference.

All right, that's about it for uh this edition of Last Call.

Again, happy birthday, Al.

Happy birthday, everybody.

We'll see you next week at this time.