Peppered around St. Louis are police substations, places where St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers can file paperwork, use computers, and seek respite while they’re out on the job. One of the city’s newest is coming to a sleepy residential part of Soulard, which some contend is too far away from the action in a part of the city known for packed bars and late hours.
The substations tend to be paid for by neighborhood associations, a donation of sorts that encourages police to linger and provide a deterring presence. In Benton Park, the Joel’s Benton Park BP gas station doubles as a substation. It’s situated centrally near Gus’ Pretzels, a short jog over the Interstate from the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, and near many of the main neighborhood haunts. In Lafayette Square, there’s a police substation on Park Avenue near Lafayette Square park and a strip of businesses.
But Soulard’s is in a much quieter place. On Menard Street, between Lami and Barton streets and a few doors down from a yoga studio, the substation is in a residential unit with rear-only entry, part of a townhouse letting out into a quiet alley near some apartments…