The St. Louis American: This past spring, Chief Dan Isom, the Consortium for Police Leadership and Equity, and the ACLU came together to talk about how they could work together and sign an agreement for a mediation policy. Were you involved in that process, and are you planning on continuing that conversation?
Police Chief Sam Dotson: I am. We have a formal complaint-taking process. If we have the ability to help citizens understand why officers acted the way they did and officers to understand how civilians perceived their actions, it’s a good thing. Mediation puts those two at the same table for a conversation and a dialogue.
It actually goes towards my whole approach for discipline. I see discipline in many cases as an opportunity for teachable moments. If an officer makes an honest mistake, we have the responsibility to ask, “Was our training appropriate?” If you violate the law, the full weight of the department is going to come down on you.
Mediation absolutely has a piece in our discipline process and in our training process.
The American: The agreement has been described as cutting-edge, and only a handful of cities are implementing this type of mediation. Is this an agreement that you are going to go forward with?
Chief Dotson: We actually do some mediation now. I’d like to see it expanded.
The American: But as far as this agreement?
Chief Dotson: Yes, yes.
The American: Do you know when you are going to reach an agreement and announce it?
Chief Dotson: I don’t. We are in the process of working with a new commander of Internal Affairs. We need to, for a second, focus on our primary function. I know all of that is important, but our primary mission is to reduce crime. We were successful in 2012. We saw a 12.4 percent reduction in crime. I think that’s important. You have to look at the totality and not just take out the hot-button issues.
The American: You are entering at an interesting time where there could be a switch in administration with the mayoral election. How would things change for you if there were a different mayor?
Chief Dotson: It wouldn’t. For the last 12 years that Mayor Slay has been in office, policing and law enforcement in this city has been a priority. Right now, the city invests a quarter of a billion dollars between the police department, the courts, corrections, public safety. As long as that investment continues, we will be able to prioritize law enforcement in the right way. Being police chief, you want to stay out of politics. Our job is to reduce crime.
The American: You have been described as Chief Joe Mokwa’s “aide.” What was your relationship with Chief Mokwa like?
Chief Dotson: We promote from within. The candidates for police chief all came from within. So we all worked with Chief Mokwa, we all worked with Ron Henderson, we all worked with Dan Isom. For Chief Mokwa, I was his aide. I worked in his office.
The American: What were some of your roles as an aide? How would you describe that role?
Chief Dotson: Oh, ah, clerical. I helped with the paper flow. I would help with issues in the community. I would help interact with the board. Administrative.
The American: In Scott Tillis’ police board trial, Mokwa testified that – on a monthly basis – he and members of his staff would go have coffee with Greg Shepard (the towing manager for St. Louis Metropolitan Towing who was indicted for fraud). Did you ever go with him?
Chief Dotson: Yes, Greg Shepard was a retired police officer from here, so I was familiar with him.
The American: Shepard went to prison for fraudulent activity, flipping titles. Did you see any of this happen? Did you know about any of this?
Chief Dotson: No. S&H Towing had a long-term contract with the police department. At one point I asked for an audit to be done towards the end of the contract, towards the end of when the issue started to be exposed. We began an audit because I asked for an audit to be done. So as soon as we became aware of any questionable behavior, we started an audit here and we’ve supplied information to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, to the F.B.I. and everyone who was investigating it.
The American: From the extensive reporting on the towing scam, it seemed that many more police officers were involved than were prosecuted. Do you think you still have active police officers that participated in the scandal?
Chief Dotson: By “scandal,” you have to help me a little bit and tell me what you are accusing people of.
The American: Greg Shepard was prosecuted for fraudulent activity. Do you think there are police officers who participated in this fraudulent activity and are still police officers now?
Chief Dotson: Again, the U. S. Attorney looked at it. The F.B.I. looked at it. The Circuit Attorney’s office looked at it. And so if they didn’t find any wrongdoing, I don’t know what you would expect to… If they would have had any questions, they would have raised them. Certainly I don’t believe there’s any ongoing activity going on now, and I’m hopeful that if any of those agencies found any fraudulent activity, they would have followed through and prosecuted them.
The American: As far as diversity in the police force, how do you view that as a goal and priority?
Chief Dotson: It’s important that the police force reflect the community that it serves. And that’s why Al Akins, who is assistant chief, is an African American. We promoted five majors, including an African-American female, Rochelle Jones, and an African-American male, Ronnie Robinson. It sets the tone inside the police department that competent leaders can be white, they can be black, they can be male, they can be female. It sends a message to the community that we are sensitive to all parts of the city.
