ST. LOUIS • Chief Sam Dotson revealed Monday the most comprehensive public outline yet of how the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Police Department will change after the city takes control in the summer.
Dotson plans to operate with two deputy chiefs instead of the five now mandated by statute, cut districts to six from the state-required nine, and put more resources at the disposal of district captains, he told the Post-Dispatch editorial board.
And, he said, keeping pressure on high-crime locations will become part of the basic culture. “We need to stop thinking of hot spot policing as a special program,†the chief insisted. “It’s the way we police.â€
Not all the transition wrinkles are smoothed out, said Dotson, an 18-year department veteran who replaced retiring Chief Dan Isom on Jan. 1. For example, talks are continuing about how to fit officer discipline into the Civil Service Commission after the state-chartered Board of Police Commissioners fades away.
People are also reading…
In November, voters ratified a proposal to end state oversight, dating to the Civil War era, and allow the ºüÀêÊÓƵ mayor to control police as a city agency, comparable to almost every other U.S. city. The state-appointed police board chose Dotson, with Mayor Francis Slay’s endorsement. Sometime after July 1, Dotson will report to the director of public safety, who reports to the mayor.
Dotson said his force of about 1,300 officers is enough to sustain directed patrols in high-crime areas. But he said the working hours may be adjusted, some specialized units may be deployed differently and some partnerships with federal agencies reconsidered.
The chief said some state requirements had hampered the department from adapting to changing times. For example, he explained, the nine districts reflected a city of decades ago, with a greater population and different crime patterns.
‘AMBASSADORS OF SAFETY’
The new chief said he learned a more global view during 18 recent months on loan to Slay as his director of operations. Dotson said he learned to think of the public in terms of “customers.â€
“We are providing a service,†Dotson said. “I view police officers as ambassadors of safety, not just preventers of crime.â€
He said the department must address a common perception of ºüÀêÊÓƵ as more dangerous than it is, despite falling crime numbers. “Unless you are engaged in a lifestyle that puts you at risk, you’re probably not going to become a victim of violence in ºüÀêÊÓƵ,†he said.
Dotson said he also learned the importance of partnering with community organizations and managing budgets.
He said the reduction to six districts could save $500,000 to $1.8 million annually, and eliminate some command positions through attrition. Dotson vowed to “try to keep neighborhood boundaries intact†in drawing new districts of comparable size, calls for service, crimes and workload. They would be staffed about equally.
He avoided specifics on possible work schedule changes, saying he wants to discuss them first with employee groups — the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Police Officers’ Association, the Ethical Society of Police and the Leadership Organization — by next month, for implementation in mid-March.
“They’re going to have a voice,†Dotson promised.
STREAMLINING
The chief is considering a shift of almost 50 officers from two specialized units to work at the district level.
One is the Rapid Deployment Unit. It was a successor to the old Mobile Reserve Unit, which had morphed into SWAT. SWAT will continue, for hostage situations and high-risk warrant arrests. The districts would get the RDU personnel and the eight Special Operations Unit officers assigned to each of the North, Central and South patrol areas.
“If I’m going to hold our district captains more accountable for what is happening in their districts, I need to give them the resources they need to do the job,†Dotson explained.
Commanders are not immune from the streamlining. Having too many deputy chiefs has led to an internal competition for resources, Dotson suggested. He plans to have two, one over enforcement — patrol and detectives — and one over administration — including communications, the academy and internal affairs.
The cuts already are beginning. Dotson said one of the deputy chiefs, Lt. Col. Tim Reagan, has announced his retirement and will not be replaced.
Dotson said he also may rethink partnerships with federal agencies, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He plans to meet with local bosses at those agencies to try to better align priorities.
“I’m not seeing the dividends from those partnerships,†Dotson said. He noted that local police can seek federal charges, where appropriate, whether working in such operations or not.
Oversight of discipline will challenge the reformed department to find a delicate balance between fairness to accused officers and transparency for a justifiably concerned public, Dotson said. Disciplinary appeals that used to go to the police commissioners will go instead to the Civil Service Commission in a process not fully established.
One possibility, the chief said, might be for a civilian oversight panel to review Internal Affairs Division reports on alleged misconduct for completeness before decisions are finalized.
“Civilian review is the elephant in the room, but society has a right to know about whether a thorough investigation has been done,†Dotson said. “And officers have a right to certain protections too.â€