ST. LOUIS — The city police chief is facing criticism from officers after a recent promotional video featured white, male police leaders.
Several police leaders expressed disappointment in the video’s lack of racial and gender representation, said Sgt. Mickey Owens, president of the union that represents supervisors and commanders in the department.
“This department has a history of issues involving diversity and inclusion, and this would have been an opportunity for the department to show that we do have African Americans in senior management positions,†he said.
The seven-minute video was funded by the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization that pays for various projects and equipment for county and city police. It features police Chief Robert Tracy and two other officers, none of whom are Black. One Black staffer spoke in the video, but he is not a sworn officer.
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The Foundation has dedicated at least $960,000 to the department this year, including an extra $100,000 in pay for Tracy and $860,000 to put additional officers on patrol in downtown ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
Michelle Craig, the foundation’s president and executive director, would not say how much the foundation paid for production of the video and said it “did not provide or choose any content, nor did we produce it.â€
The video features Tracy talking about his 40-year career in law enforcement and his vision for the department, as well as the city’s long history with high crime rates.
Additional information about the video’s purpose and where it was first presented were not immediately available.
Tracy, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones and Public Safety Director Charles Coyle did not respond to a request for comment.
Owens said the video is especially disappointing because there is not a lack of diversity among the department’s senior management, which includes the ranks of captain, major and lieutenant colonel.
One of Tracy’s two deputy chiefs is a Black lieutenant colonel, and of the five majors listed on the department’s website, two are Black men and two are white women. The video was also criticized by the Ethical Society of Police, which represents Black officers and advocates for equality in the department.
“We did not see our African American commanders and our African American commanders who are women,†said Sgt. Donnell Walters, president of ESOP.
Walters said his organization met with the chief’s office and the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Police Foundation to discuss their concerns, which Walters said “were heard and received.â€
The video begins with an airborne view of downtown at night and then the Gateway Arch at sunrise, and features B-roll of officers interacting with the chief.
“When you have a city that 90% of the homicides is by gunshot, then you have to go after the trigger pullers,†Chief Tracy says in the video. “In the nine months that I’ve been in here, our officers are doing a tremendous job in bringing crime down, and it’s a city that’s getting safer.â€
Acting Maj. Michael Mueller, commander of the department’s investigative services, praises the new chief.
“I’m very excited,†he says. “He brings a fresh look and fresh set of eyes to stuff we’ve been doing for over 100 years. So it’s really nice, the new programs that he’s initiated.â€
The only Black person who was interviewed in the video was Clarence Hines, who is director of the city police academy and not a sworn officer. Sgt. Marcos Silva, a supervisor in the intelligence division, also spoke about the department’s investigative resources.
Tracy came under fire for racial diversity in his most recent job before coming to ºüÀêÊÓƵ, too.
When he was police chief in Wilmington, Delaware, the city council narrowly passed a resolution declaring no confidence in Tracy, citing a lack of diversity in the police force and saying Tracy’s explanation that there were not enough minority applicants was insufficient.
The resolution came after Tracy told the council’s public safety committee there were no Black or Hispanic supervisors in the department’s two criminal investigation divisions and that just one-third of the division’s 39 detectives were non-white.