[stevem]

I don't see a problem. If people are going to insist upon living like animals and murdering each other at the slightest provocation, it seems that in this case they are confining their Cultural Expression to a Select Community. Sounds like a source of community pride.

True enough. I s'pect that's true in about every major city in the world.

[Stoat]

I s'pect that's true in about every major city in the world

Social filth and decay tends to begin in clusters, metastasizing as much as it is allowed to.  The Saint Louis Police should be commended for containing this mess as well as they have....I'm guessing that political pressures placed upon them prevent them from doing a more thorough job, just as is the case in most big US cities.