51ºÚÁÏ

There are mass protests scheduled for the 51ºÚÁÏ region over the weekend, Capt. Lewis Pippin wrote Thursday .

“The last time this occurred,� he continued, “we experienced a spike in vehicle break-ins at our hotels and off-Interstate businesses.�

Within a few hours, the responses started.

“Fear mongering at its finest,� Breanna Friedeck.

“There is no evidence,â€� Casey Cassidy, “that vehicle break-ins occurred in Festus during or immediately after the last mass protest event in 51ºÚÁÏ.â€�

By Friday morning, hundreds of Facebook users had commented on the Festus post. Some defended the department’s warning. Most did not.

Pippin told the Post-Dispatch on Friday that he’s been an officer for 17 years and based the post on his past experience, including the Ferguson protests. He said Festus sees a higher volume of traffic come through the town as people make their way up north to the city, creating more opportunity for crime to happen.

“The intent of my post was not to shame or bring any negativity towards the protesters,� Pippin said.

Pippin said he did not have statistics to share on the anecdotal theft spikes.

Protests are indeed planned all across the region, from St. Peters to west 51ºÚÁÏ County to Belleville.

Orchestrated by several local organizations as part of a national effort, the will bring protesters to the streets on Saturday to push back on what activists are calling overreach and authoritarian behavior by the Trump administration. The protests are planned for the same day as the president’s military parade in Washington, D.C.

None appear scheduled for Festus, a town of about 13,000 people about 35 miles south of 51ºÚÁÏ near Crystal City and Herculaneum.

Pippin, in his Facebook post, wrote that Festus police are increasing patrols in the areas near the interstate and are asking people to report any suspicious behavior they see, such as out-of-state cars circling parking lots.

“The PD has already been working hard to notify all the hotels in Festus,� he wrote, “as well as all the businesses along the interstate that were targeted in the past.�

Pippin also advised people to pay attention while putting their gas in their cars and to never leave valuables in their cars.

“Stay vigilant, everyone!� Pippin wrote.

The Facebook post garnered almost 2,000 shares and more than 750 comments by Friday morning, with many people expressing doubt that crime statistics would back up Pippin’s claims.

One commenter, Dan Stefl, told the Post-Dispatch he had concerns about the post because it didn’t provide statistics to support those claims.

“The police department dropped the ball on having the opportunity to include statistics that really clarified the point that they were trying to make with the timing between the protests and the car break-ins,� he said. “Because overall, in essence, drawing a relation between the two put the negative light on the protests and protesters themselves, even if indirectly.�

Pippin told the Post-Dispatch that since September he has been sharing monthly messages with the community that talk about crime trends and how residents could help, such as calling in suspicious activity when they see it.

Up until Thursday, Pippin said those newsletters had been received well and he felt like he was bridging the communication divide between police and the community.

“And this one, I think, got outside of our community, and people that don’t know me took it and just ran with it,� he said. “And it was — yeah, it was just upsetting.�

Pippin said he did not intend for the message to be political and said the post “completely spun out of control� and was misinterpreted.

He said he’s had people reach out to him over the phone or by email about the post, and the majority of them appeared to understand the post’s intention after he explained.

Others, he said, didn’t want to hear him out.