For the first time in more than 150 years, St. Louis had the chance to pick a police chief from outside of its own department. But after a nationwide search, a 30-year veteran of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department – who was born and raised in St. Louis – came out on top.
Major John Hayden, who is African American, has been chosen as the city’s next police chief, Mayor Lyda Krewson and Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards announced on Thursday, December 28.
Since September 2015, Hayden had been commanding the North Patrol Division, which patrols “the most dangerous streets in the city,” he said at the December 14 community forum with the police chief finalists.
He has held several administrative positions, including commander over Internal Affairs from 2007 to 2013 and executive aide to former chief Joe Mokwa from 2001 to 2007.
“He has a great track record building trust in the communities in which he’s served,” Krewson said in a statement.
Edwards said the police department must “change from within” in order to earn city residents’ support.
“He treats all people, whether law enforcement or the accused, with respect,” Edwards said in a statement. “I believe that his informed concern for our city will be a great asset in closing the trust gap between the police and citizens.”
Hayden’s new salary is $153,000 a year. Effective immediately, he will be in charge of a department of 1,300 sworn officers, 400 civilian employees, and a yearly budget of $170 million.
Hayden was picked over internal candidates Captain Mary Edwards-Fears and Interim Chief Lawrence O’Toole, whose inclusion in the finalist list for police chief caused outrage among many in the community.
In his acceptance speech, Hayden thanked O’Toole for serving “honorably” as interim chief, despite the handful of lawsuits that have been filed against the department – stemming from incidents when officers ultimately under O’Toole’s command brutally handled nonviolent protestors, members of the media, an undercover officer and even neighbors (one of them a U.S. Air Force officer) out for a walk. O’Toole later boasted that police “owned the night.”
O’Toole will again serve as assistant chief, and his salary went from $108,450 to $115,000, said the mayor’s spokesman Koran Addo.
“The public safety director gave him a $7,000 raise as a retention,” Addo said. “To keep him in the department so he can finish certain projects he’s working on.”
The other three finalists were Police Chief Patrick Melvin of Port Arthur, Texas; Major Stephen “Max” Geron of Dallas; and Police Chief Keith Humphrey of Norman, Okla.
Hayden was the top-ranking candidate based on his scores in the interviews and management-assessment test. He was also the top pick for the Ethical Society of Police, which advocates for racial equity in the department. Its board members unanimously voted on December 19 to back Hayden as chief.
“His track record shows that he has a background of disciplining officers fairly and a history of doing what’s right,” said Sgt. Heather Taylor, president of the Ethical Society of Police. “He’s probably punished more officers for doing wrong than any other on our department, justifiably. That is the one thing our community is calling for – accountability.”
Although the organization wanted an outside candidate originally, she said Hayden was the clear choice out of the finalists.
Hayden earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Washington University and a master’s degree in management from Fontbonne College. He played tight end for the Wash. U. Bears from 1981 to 1983. He’s been married for 28 years and has three daughters.
“I love this city,” Hayden said. “I’ve never left. I’ve been here the whole time.”
Fairness and equity
During the December 14 community forum, the police chief candidates were asked questions about community relations, accountability and racism. When asked what he would do to rebuild the community’s trust in the police department, Hayden said that he would first “encourage” officers in all ranks to get out into the community more.
“Healing the broken relationship is going to come one way,” he said, “by spending some more quality time with the people we serve.”
As commander, he sometimes sets up his office on a street corner where there is heavy drug trafficking, he said. Community members are more likely to engage with him, and it also interferes with drug sales – giving the people some relief, he said.
“I never ask people to do things that I don’t do,” Hayden said. “I would be honored to have the chief’s mobile office in various neighborhoods.”
When asked how he would institutionalize anti-racism within the department, he pointed to his recent experience attending a two-day anti-racism, anti-bias seminar.
“What was so impactful about it was that we’ve already had implicit-bias training, and it really didn’t get to the origins of white supremacy and historical trauma,” he said.
The seminar instigated some dialogue that people in the room appreciated, he said, and it’s “meatier” than the officers’ current training.
“One thing I would do as chief is we would start at the top and work our way down for that type of training,” he said.
Hayden supports the idea of outside agencies conducting independent investigations into the police department.
“I know currently we don’t have that,” Hayden said. “I know the Ferguson Commission talked about the Highway Patrol leading some of those investigations. And in the interim, there is nothing that prevents us.”
While the department is establishing a policy for independent investigations, Hayden said that the department could possibly collaborate with St. Louis County Police to create a task force that “mimics the idea of what potentially the Highway Patrol would do.”
Hayden was asked how he would bridge the racial divide in the police department, as well as between the Ethical Society of Police and St. Louis Police Officers Association, the bargaining unit for police, which has a majority-white membership. Hayden said he has been a member of both for 30 years.
His role as an instructor in the St. Louis Police Academy for five years, where he taught about 500 officers, has helped him to develop close relationships with many officers on the force.
“I have the largest sphere of influence to make change when it comes to race relations,” Hayden said. “A lot of them still consider me a mentor.”
His reputation in both the Ethical Society and SLPOA is about fairness and equity, he said.
Hayden publicly backed O’Toole on lie
On June 21, Hayden stood up next to Interim Police Chief Lawrence O’Toole when he told the media that a black off-duty police officer was shot “during the exchange of gunfire.” However, the truth was that Officer Milton Green was shot by a white city cop when approaching a crime scene near his home in an effort to help out.
The Ethical Society alleges that O’Toole lied in his statement to the public in attempt to cover up the situation. At the news conference announcing that Hayden had been selected as chief of police, Hayden acknowledged he had been aware that the black cop had been shot by a white cop when O’Toole had made his statement that night – ultimately acknowledging that it was indeed a false statement.
Police sources said that Hayden later confronted O’Toole about his decision to make a false public statement. But at today’s press conference, Hayden said that he did not confront O’Toole.
Hayden told the community on December 14, “You deserve accountability. You’ll have accountability through me.”
The Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression released a statement after Hayden was selected.
“John Hayden knows the city and the players,” the coalition stated. “That can be a blessing and a curse. We will be challenging him to imagine and create a new type of police department for St. Louis rather than continuing the one he’s been immersed in.”
