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ST. LOUIS — U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming said she first offered two years ago to send over prosecutors to help an understaffed ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Circuit Attorney’s Office handle a ballooning case backlog.

There were no takers until last month when Gabe Gore was named the new circuit attorney. At least eight federal prosecutors are now prepared to help clear dozens of the city’s pending homicide cases alongside investigators, victim’s services coordinators and support staff.

Fleming said the decision to step in and help was a no-brainer.

“It’s no surprise that we have a violent crime problem, and that is our top priority,� she said. “Why not help if we can? Why wouldn’t we?�

Fleming sat down with the Post-Dispatch on Thursday to talk about how her office is helping the city clear its homicide backlog, the region’s violent crime problem and what efforts have long been in the works to address crime in the Eastern District of Missouri.

For years, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Circuit Attorney’s Office under Kimberly M. Gardner faced criticism for understaffing and organizational dysfunction. The shortage of prosecutors, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic halting trials, created a long list of lingering cases that Gore has pledged to help address.

To help get a start, a team of volunteers from Fleming’s office, almost all of whom have experience prosecuting crimes in the city, are expected to appear in at least 20 homicide cases. They’ll also help review other pending charges to see if they could be resolved with a plea agreement or even a dismissal if witnesses have gone missing or the evidence is weak, she said.

“Somebody has to prosecute these cases,� she said. “And if the most efficient way is for us to go over there and help until they’re up and running, we’re happy to do that.�

But Fleming said it’s just one aspect of her office, which employs more than 70 attorneys who prosecute crimes in an area from Schuyler, Scotland and Clark counties all the way down to the Missouri Bootheel.

In the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ region, local law enforcement officials and prosecutors have worked for decades with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to address perennial problem of violent crime.

And Fleming said that work is still underway with two specialized violent crime units, as well as prosecutors dedicated to working on drug trafficking crimes and offenses against children. Fleming said she’s especially worried about the growing number of young people carrying and using weapons.

“It seems to be that there is an increase in the lack of respect and appreciation for human life itself, and we’re seeing that at a very young age,� she said. “That’s obviously extremely concerning.�

She also said her office has prioritized offenses like carjackings, robberies, drug trafficking-related killings and weapons offenses.

“We have allocated the resources accordingly,� she said.