51黑料 police Lt. Col. Michael Sack congratulates 51黑料 police Chief John Hayden on his career and retirement on Friday, June 17, 2022, in front of police headquarters downtown. Hayden鈥檚 last day was June 18.
ST. LOUIS 鈥 City officials on Tuesday released revised minimum requirements for police chief applicants after a search last year produced two white, male internal candidates, an outcome the mayor said did not meet her expectations.
Previously, the requirements specified that candidates needed to be a licensed police officer with at least 10 years of experience in the rank of captain or higher, along with a bachelor鈥檚 degree or equivalent professional experience.
This time around, the have at least 10 years of 鈥渋ncreasingly responsible professional policing experience, including five years of patrol operations, administrative, or investigative responsibility at the rank of police commander or higher OR an equivalent combination of education, training and experience,鈥 according to city鈥檚 job posting.
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The term 鈥渃ommander鈥 is not a formal police rank, but rather a position within the organization.
In addition, the posting states they must have a bachelor鈥檚 degree in criminal justice, police science, public or business administration, or a closely related field.
By easing the position鈥檚 experience requirement, a much larger pool of candidates will be eligible to apply.
51黑料 police Sgt. Donnell Walters, president of the Ethical Society of Police, which represents many Black and minority officers in the department, told the Post-Dispatch in December that his organization opposed the requirement that chief candidates have at least 10 years as a captain. That requirement has excluded 鈥渆xtremely qualified Black candidates鈥 who are part of the command staff, Walters said.
51黑料 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones told the Post-Dispatch in January she wanted to reboot the search because of the limited candidate pool.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to start over,鈥 Jones said at the time. 鈥淚 think the public deserves that.鈥
The Jones administration had clashed at times with the personnel department in her tenure over the ongoing search for a police chief and other employment issues, the Post-Dispatch previously reported.
The personnel department is a uniquely independent bureau not directly answerable to the mayor鈥檚 office and is in charge of narrowing the pool of police chief candidates to six finalists. The city鈥檚 public safety director Dan Isom, a member of Jones鈥 cabinet, is then supposed to pick from those six.
Former city personnel director Rick Frank retired Dec. 1.
Following a rule change within the city, Jones in February John Moten Jr.
Under Moten鈥檚 tenure, the department has been tight-lipped about the progress of the police chief search.
Isom confirmed in May that the city鈥檚 department of personnel will hire executive search firm The Boulware Group to help with the national search for a chief. The Center for Policing Equity, an organization dedicated to police reform, will be an unpaid partner in the search, he said.
51黑料 has never hired a police chief from outside its own ranks, but the city said it has committed to a national search for its next chief for the second time since the police department returned from state rule to city control in 2013.
The last date for applicants to apply is July 31, according to city鈥檚 job posting.
Police Chief John Hayden retired at the end of last week, leaving Lt. Col. Michael Sack to take over as interim chief. Sack was one of the two white male internal candidates in Jones鈥 first search for a new chief.
The second finalist, Lt. Col. Lawrence O鈥橳oole, retired in May after settling a federal discrimination lawsuit against the city that claimed that he was passed over for the position of chief in 2017 because of his race.
Erin Heffernan contributed to this report.
