'Crime strategist' and urban police chief Robert Tracy to become top cop in St. Louis - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS — Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has selected an municipality constabulary main and erstwhile Chicago transgression strategist arsenic St. Louis’ adjacent apical cop, the archetypal appointed from extracurricular the department.

Robert Tracy, the main successful Wilmington, Delaware, earned nationalist designation for reducing weapon unit there, but was besides criticized by metropolis assembly members for radical tensions and a deficiency of diverseness successful the department.

He is acceptable to commencement present Jan. 9, and inherits a section with a ample fig of serviceman vacancies, successful a metropolis wherever the homicide complaint is among the highest successful the country.

Jones called him detail-oriented, organized, data-driven and dedicated to gathering assemblage trust.

“Chief Tracy has a proven way grounds of reducing convulsive crime,” she said astatine a quality league Wednesday. “He’s done truthful successful aggregate cities and I judge helium tin bash it here.”

“I cognize Chief Tracy volition bring the lessons he’s learned from his work successful Wilmington to our city,” she continued.

Tracy volition marque $275,000 a twelvemonth — $175,000 from the metropolis and $100,000 a twelvemonth from the St. Louis Police Foundation. The Foundation said connected Wednesday “it did not privation compensation to beryllium a obstruction successful attracting the champion qualified candidates.”

Tracy, 58, was calved successful the Bronx, is joined and has 5 children. He has worked successful instrumentality enforcement for astir 40 years, including a stint arsenic Chicago’s transgression power strategist. He became main successful Wilmington successful 2017, amid a surge successful weapon violence. Two years later, helium was recognized astatine erstwhile President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, according to quality outlets, for a driblet successful shootings there: 60% less radical were changeable successful 2018 compared with the erstwhile year, which deed a historical precocious of 194 shooting victims.

“He came present wholly unknown, from Chicago,” Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki told the Post-Dispatch connected Tuesday. “He changed the department. He changed the civilization entirely. He’s been a large chief. You tin instrumentality the fig of detractors helium has and enactment it successful a thimble, and he’s got an tremendous fig of supporters due to the fact that helium worked truly hard, and he’s reduced transgression dramatically.”

Tracy said Chicago, too, experienced a large driblet successful homicides implicit his 5 years there, and the lowest wide transgression complaint since 1972.

Tracy’s tenure successful Wilmington — a metropolis of 71,000 residents, much than fractional Black, and 300 officers, 35% non-white — faced challenges: Delaware’s NAACP subdivision called for Tracy’s resignation aft an serviceman was recorded slamming a suspect’s caput into a plexiglass partition during an arrest. And successful January of this year, the metropolis assembly introduced a “no confidence” solution successful his leadership.

Council President Ernest “Trippi” Congo sponsored the resolution, citing a deficiency of diverseness successful the constabulary unit and saying Tracy’s mentation that determination were not capable number applicants was insufficient.

Councilwoman Shané Darby said Tracy did not bash capable to amended radical tensions among staff, to code the department’s narration with the city’s number communities oregon to supply elaborate accusation astir officer-involved shootings.

The assembly passed the resolution, 6-4.

Councilwoman Zanthia Oliver told the Post-Dispatch that Tracy “had to instrumentality the hit” due to the fact that helium was the caput of the department. She said the concerns were not astir Tracy personally but much astir morale and hostility successful the department. She described the struggles arsenic persistent organization issues plaguing different constabulary departments, specified arsenic recruitment of divers candidates.

And Tracy defended himself connected Wednesday, saying helium listened to the criticism, addressed it, and it hasn’t been an contented since. “We really sat down and talked astir these things to marque definite that we were doing the things that our assemblage expected,” helium said.

The search

Former constabulary Chief John Hayden announced his retirement successful aboriginal September 2021. He was acceptable to discontinue Feb. 23 but agreed to enactment connected longer erstwhile struggle betwixt the city’s unit section and the mayor’s bureau delayed the nationalist hunt for his replacement.

Hayden made $153,000 arsenic constabulary main successful 2021, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch public wage database.

Hayden retired successful mid-June and Lt. Col. Michael Sack took implicit arsenic interim constabulary chief.

The struggle began successful the city’s archetypal hunt past twelvemonth erstwhile the unit section was tasked with narrowing the excavation of candidates to six finalists. Jones’ nationalist information director, Dan Isom, was past expected to prime from those six.

In November, erstwhile unit manager Richard Frank sent rejection letters to astir of astir 30 applicants for the occupation and gave a written trial to Sack and Lt. Col. Lawrence O’Toole. Both are achromatic men with agelong careers successful the department.

In January, Jones told the Post-Dispatch she was dissatisfied with having conscionable 2 interior finalists for the occupation and scratched the city’s archetypal search.

This summer, the metropolis hired enforcement hunt steadfast The Boulware Group to assistance with the 2nd nationalist hunt for a chief. The Regional Business Council agreed to wage Boulware up to $60,000, the metropolis said.

The Center for Policing Equity, a constabulary enactment dedicated to constabulary reform, was besides an unpaid spouse successful the search.

Tracy was 1 of 4 finalists for the job. The different candidates were: Larry Boone, a erstwhile constabulary main successful Norfolk, Virginia; Melron Kelly, a lawman main from Columbia, South Carolina; and Sack.

But South Carolina quality outlets reported implicit the play that Kelly talked with his family, “realized that determination is overmuch enactment inactive to beryllium done successful Columbia,” and pulled himself retired of the race.

Then, Tuesday, Sack told the constabulary section present successful an agency-wide email that helium had not been selected.

Sack said successful the email that the section has been “going done a batch of increasing pains” and encouraged employees to proceed to accommodate to an “ever-changing environment.”

“Together we volition proceed to enactment hard to marque a quality successful our community,” Sack concluded.

Boone did not instrumentality aggregate telephone calls seeking comment.

Focus connected trust

Tracy’s remarks Wednesday were focused connected transgression simplification and gathering assemblage trust. He said helium would instrumentality the adjacent fewer weeks to get to cognize everyone who wants to beryllium a portion of the solution and familiarize himself with members of the department.

Tracy said helium worked successful Chicago and Wilmington to physique spot betwixt the assemblage and the constabulary department, arsenic good arsenic betwixt constabulary officers and their department.

“Firstly, you person to beryllium capable to amended radical connected what you’re looking to do,” helium said. “You’ve got to instrumentality it properly. You’ve got to execute it. And past you person to relentlessly travel up. And determination has to beryllium respect wrong an enactment up and down the line. When that happens, that expands to outer success, due to the fact that that’ll spell retired into the community.”

The constabulary main said his occurrence successful Delaware was evident successful the letters of enactment St. Louis officials received from religion leaders and different assemblage members successful Wilmington.

“I was humbled — very, precise humbled,” Tracy said. “I knew I created a bully narration with the assemblage and the communities of color, but it was overwhelming to get those letters successful enactment of maine being a candidate.”

Tracy said he’ll commencement gathering with St. Louis stakeholders this period to amended recognize the challenges the metropolis faces portion besides helping Wilmington officials hole for his exit.

“This is the close determination for St. Louis,” Isom said of Tracy connected Wednesday. “As the erstwhile main of police, I cognize the qualities of a strong, strategical and committed servant person is the close acceptable for our community. Chief Tracy has experienced reducing convulsive transgression portion gathering assemblage spot crossed neighborhoods, radical lines and ZIP codes.”