Maplewood council votes to enhance ordinance related to hate crimes
MAPLEWOOD, Mo. – The Maplewood City Council approved an ordinance on Tuesday that would add the offense of stealing to the city’s current ordinance related to hate crimes.
The need to update the ordinance became apparent after a resident reported the theft of an Israeli flag, and more incidents followed.
A suspect was charged in one of those cases and Maplewood Police continue to search for a suspect in the most recent incident caught on a surveillance camera.
Barry Greenberg, Maplewood’s newly elected mayor, believes the new ordinance will send a message that hate crimes are not tolerated in Maplewood.
“This process was started by the council before the last incident occurred, but the idea is that we needed to strengthen our ordinance to address that issue,” he said.
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Greenberg was sworn in as mayor Tuesday after winning with write-in votes. Council members credited outgoing mayor Nikylan Knapper for helping to identify the need for updating the ordinance.
The new ordinance raises the minimum fine for such crimes to $500. The maximum fine is $1,000, with a maximum jail time of 90 days.
The penalties would be applicable for any stealing motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability of the victim or victims.
During a public comment opportunity, Maplewood resident Elizabeth Nathanson expressed support for the change.
“It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, religion or anything, you see it constantly,” she said.
The previous ordinance included other factors but did not include stealing.
“We’re in a time when hate crimes are increasing and there needs to be more of a deterrent effect so that they don’t proliferate,” Greenberg said.
He said that the city wanted to make sure it had a system in place to deal with hate-motivated crimes in the event that state or federal authorities do not prosecute cases.
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