University City council to consider hate crime proposals

UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. • A University City councilman who volunteered at a Jewish cemetery after more than 150 headstones were vandalized is sponsoring a measure that would create a citywide hate crimes offenders database.

Councilman Rod Jennings, Ward 3, said Friday that the ordinance would operate similar to a sex crimes registry, in that a person convicted of a hate crime would appear in a database, including the person's address and offense.

The measure comes nearly a week after 154 headstones in the oldest section of Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, at 7570 Olive Boulevard, were toppled. University City Police, still investigating the act, have not categorized the incident as a hate crime.

However, many residents and members of the Jewish community do believe the vandalism was an act of hate and anti-Semitism.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/university-city-council-to-consider-hate-crime-proposals/article_24b5c8a2-9d22-5eba-bac0-ff0f244ed680.html