CLAYTON, MO (KMOX) - St. Louis County's new police chief says he is taking over at what is likely the most difficult time for law enforcement in the 42-years he's been on the force.
"There's so much lawlessness out there," says Kenneth Gregory, who was elevated to the post by the Board of Police Commissioners Tuesday. Gregory, who has served as acting chief since July, used Wednesday's shooting of two St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers in Ferguson as an example. "Who in the world that guys would be running from police, shooting behind their back at the police officers? People don't care about taking someone's life."
He says it may be toughest for the families of police officers. "How it's affecting their families, when they have to send their sons, or send their husbands out there to do the work they are doing." Gregory says the department recently established a Wellness Unit, which provides counseling for officers and their families.
Those pressures are also making it difficult to fill vacancies, Gregory says. With the department about 60 officers short, he says they're having to be reactive rather than proactive. In an effort to attract more applicants, Gregory says he will be proposing a general order to open up the department's selection process. "By opening up, I'm going to do things to attract more people into the profession to give us a greater opportunity to get more people we can interview to get into the profession." He says adding more officers will also allow the department to engage in more community policing activities. "We want to get to a point where we have enough officers to be more proactive. To get out there. To get into these neighborhoods. To communicate with the people. To talk with the people. To establish a relationship with the people." He says officers in two precincts are now on 12-hour shifts, so they have more time to communicate with residents and get to know the communities they serve.
Gregory says efforts to fight crime under his watch will depend on captains to respond to the types of incidents they are seeing in their precincts. "We all work with the violent crime issues," he says, "but there are some other crime issues, in south county it might be theft, in Fenton it might be theft, so they're working a strategy to deal with the biggest concern they're working with." He says those concerns will be discussed in twice-monthly command staff meetings, where their plans could be used in other precincts.
In recent years the St. Louis County Police Department has seen its share of racial tension. Gregory says the fact he is now the chief, and that there a growing number of minorities in command positions, tells him the culture is changing. "That's the change that we're looking to continue to make. Those are the concerns that people in the past have had with this department and we're looking to change that."
And at the age of 70, Gregory says retirement is more on his mind than it has been in a long time, but he does not have a timetable for stepping away from the position he just accepted. "I talked to a number of chiefs about being chief and they said I don't care how long you're there, it never becomes an easy job. You're experience isn't going to make your job easier. So, I think about that and I know my day is coming."
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