On May Day, a dozen organizations and 95 individuals released a statement urging newly-elected Mayor Lyda Krewson to create a “diverse committee of residents” to guide the search for a new police chief in St. Louis city.
And Krewson listened.
On May 25, Krewson announced that she has formed the 13-member Citizen Advisory Committee to help find a replacement for Police Chief Sam Dotson, who was retired on April 19 after leading the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department since 2012.
“Ensuring that the police department is community-oriented and accountable to the public is paramount in hiring a new police chief,” Krewson said in a statement. “Making sure a cross-section of our city has input into the hiring process is a critical first step.”
The committee will help shape the structure of the search, provide input on what the search should look like and give the city feedback along the way, according to the statement. Krewson also envisions the committee drafting the formal job description for a new police chief, incorporating different community groups into the search process and deciding whether to hire a professional search firm, she said.
Candidates inside and outside the police department will be considered, Krewson stated, pleasing various community leaders who had called for a nationwide search.
John Chasnoff, a co-chair of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression, said it seemed from Krewson’s announcement that all the details on the search process were not completely figured out.
“And we appreciate that because it’s the first time St. Louis has gone through this process,” Chasnoff said. “This is setting a precedent.”
Chasnoff, who is among the coalition members who released the statement on May 1, said that he was pleased to see the direction that the process is going. The coalition is now urging the mayor to keep the process as open as possible and that the committee does outreach with various community groups before a job description is written. Finally, they are calling for the committee to hold a public forum after they narrow down the candidates so the community can meet them.
The process is scheduled to begin with an initial committee meeting in the coming weeks and is expected to take between six to 12 months, Krewson stated.
The committee does not include members from the Ethical Soceity of Police, a union that represents majority black city officers, or the St. Louis Police Officer Association, the majority white police union.
Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society, said, “We are fine with that. The panel seems to be good choices. The mayor is listening and choosing people based on what seems fair.”
The committee members are:
Zachary Boyers, chairman and CEO of U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation and co-chair of Forward Through Ferguson
Lisa Cagle, member of the Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression and program director at Citizens for Modern Transit
Anna Crosslin, president and CEO of the International Institute St. Louis
David Dwight, communications and strategy catalyst at Forward Through Ferguson
Jessica Eiland, project manager at Rise Community Development and recent president at Northside Community Housing
Thomas J. Irwin, executive director of Civic Progress and former member St. Louis City Board of Police Commissioners
Daniel Isom, general manager of the Regional Justice Information Service and adjunct professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis; also a former city police chief
Marius Johnson-Malone, deputy director of community-based studies at Better Together
Bishop Courtney Jones, senior pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church
Alderman Terry Kennedy, chair of the Board of Aldermen Public Safety Committee and Alderman of the 18th Ward
Stephen Rovak, chairman of the city’s Civilian Oversight Board and a partner Dentons US, LLP law firm
Tina Siebert, realtor at Missouri Realtor State Director and Southampton Neighborhood Association Board member
Erwin O. Switzer, officer at Greensfelder law firm and former police commissioner
The committee will be staffed by the city’s Public Safety Director Charlene Deeken, Personnel Director Rick Frank, Deputy Mayor for Racial Equity and Priority Initiatives Nicole Hudson and Senior Policy Adviser Carl Filler.
On June 8, the Ethical Society will host an open community forum to discuss the next police chief. The event will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Vashon High School’s auditorium, 3035 Cass Ave. Taylor said that someone from the city’s personnel department will attend to answer questions about the search process. The community will be asked what they would like to see in the next police chief.
