Board Meeting First Step To Choosing New Police Chief | News

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI) – The process of selecting a new St. Louis Police Chief takes an important step Wednesday.  The Board of Police Commissioners will hold a special meeting to begin the selection process.

That meeting will take place at police headquarters downtown at 10 a.m. The agenda says it could include police board members going into executive session to discuss testing and examination materials related to the chief position.

Current chief Dan Isom announced on Monday he is retiring at the end of the year to take a job as a professor in the criminology department at UMSL, his alma mater.  Rumors about Isom`s departure had been swirling for some time.

By state statute the new chief has to live in the city, come from within the department and must have a rank of at least captain.  That leaves 22 people eligible but sources have told us only about three to four people have a real shot of becoming St. Louis` 34th police chief.

On Monday, the head of the police board Rich Gray said a new chief could be picked within 30 days.

The new chief will have plenty to deal with from a lot of violent gun crime in the city to the building a new police headquarters.

Whatever the case, we should have some idea of what the new chief search will entail after the special police board meeting.