Two black men were in the running for police chief of the Ferguson Police Department.
Frank McCall is the current interim police chief and was assistant chief under former chief Delrish Moss.
Jason Armstrong is captain of the Forest Park Police Department in Forest Park City, a suburb outside of Atlanta, and has served there for 17 years. He was an interim police chief for two months there, but otherwise has no experience as a police chief.
On June 25, the Ferguson City Council approved the city manager’s selection of Armstrong as the police department’s next chief. Councilwoman Fran Griffin was the only “no” vote. Newly elected in April, Griffin is also the only councilmember that doesn’t consistently align herself with the mayor.
The police chief selection was ultimately made by City Manager Jeff Blume, who was formerly the longtime financial director cited by the U.S. Department of Justice multiple times for urging police to issue more citations to generate more revenue for the city.
Blume said the interview process was “rigorous,” and the evaluation was unanimous among the council. Griffin made a point to put on the record that it was not unanimous.
“After talking to people in the community, I made the decision to go with what the people want,” Griffin said. “We had an opportunity to be very transparent and let people’s voices be heard.”
Mayor James Knowles said the search was an “extremely inclusive process.”
Five different groups interviewed the two candidates, Blume said, and they consisted of senior leadership and department heads, six chiefs from mostly North St. Louis County and Kirkwood and Webster Groves, the mayor and council, about 12 members of the police department, and a Town Hall meeting with community members.
At the town hall, residents voted for McCall 33-20, the American learned.
Knowles said all of the group’s input went into making the decision but could not be discussed because it was a personnel decision.
The decision goes against Delrish Moss’ fervent recommendation that McCall be the next chief.
“When we did the national search in 2016, I came in number one and Frank came in number 2,” Moss said at a press conference on October 12, 2018 announcing his decision to step down. “I went to Frank and brought him in.”
McCall was previously Berkeley’s police chief for eight years and had served there for more than 25 years. The Ferguson Police Department signed the consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice in March 2016, and McCall has been in charge of the process since he came on with the department.
“I’ve come to trust him, and he’s intricately familiar with the consent decree,” Moss said. “He knows the community, he has the skill set and he has proven to be a tremendous help. A lot of the police officers have come to trust him and will stay if his leadership is there, especially some of those ones who were considering jumping ship because they found out I was leaving. I think it’s in the best interest of the city to make Frank McCall its chief.”
In October, Moss also said that another national search would be expensive, and a new chief is going to have a learning curve coming in.
“We are well within the consent decree process,” Moss said. “If we want to get out of it in time, we need to be consistent.”
The consent decree process is supposed to last about five years, he said, but it can take longer if there are interruptions.
Cassandra Butler, a Ferguson resident, said she attended the town hall meeting, where community members were allowed to ask McCall and Armstrong questions. One thing that stood out to her was that Armstrong had not read the consent decree or the D.O.J.’s report.
“It’s hard to keep momentum if you have a new person who doesn’t know where we’ve been and doesn’t know where we’re going,” Butler said. “I don’t think Armstrong is a bad person, but it slows down the consent decree with his lack of knowledge.”
Butler mentioned her concern at a city council meeting, and the council members replied that they were going to hire someone to handle the consent decree. That person will not be a commander, but a lower position, Butler said. And that person will be reporting to a police chief that has no experience with consent decrees, she said.
“To me, that speaks volumes that you are de-emphasizing the consent decree,” Butler said. “Slowing the process is a benefit for the council that wasn’t even going to sign the consent decree, and only did after the federal government threatened to sue.”
Neither McCall nor Armstrong were present at the June 25 council meeting.
Both Ferguson and Forest Park City have populations of about 20,000, according to the U.S. Census. Ferugson has a black population of about 68 percent compared to 39 percent in Forest Park. The average income levels are comparable, between $41,000 and $33,000 respectively.
This story is developing.
