St. Louis police Chief John Hayden announces he will retire in February, Chief Hayden did a tough job well

By Robert Cunningham
3 years Ago

I met John Hayden when I was first starting high school at Lutheran North High school and for four years the black and white blended into the class of 81 at Lutheran North High school. From day one Chapel and lunches black students sat together it was just what you do when you come from a black community you gravitate to what you are familiar with. We built a bond on the football field the first year and we started our school family. But black and white students will agree Lutheran north was a special time in all of our lives. We had Hall of Famers from that school. We had Police Chiefs from that school and Chancellors from this school. It is crazy when you think about it, a small school of 400 kids putting out great minds and incredible athletes.

John Hayden was just one of those kids. He was a hard worker in school and dedicated to doing right. And when he became Chief of police in the most trying time in St. Louis history I knew he was the right man for the job I knew his heart and character of that man that I knew him since I was 14 years old and now I am 58 years old was the right man for the job. To see him retiring makes my heart full so I copy the details of his time as Chief from the media. But I wanted people to know the good and faithful servant man of God that they had in Chief Hayden. You will always be a Crusader for life. Having chapel every morning and grounding us in Christ and his word was a powerful start to the day. 40 years ago we were in high school graduating for our lives to come, it moves fast and our children are now up for the new world. Good Luck friend your new life will be great.

The details are below but not the full picture of the man I know and grew up with. My mom fondly talks about all the good men and women I went to school with at Lutheran North and she beams like all and those great women and men were all her children. Lutheran North was great, and memories last a lifetime. I feel really bad for the kids coming up with Covid, It is not the same.

Originally published at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Story updated at 3 p.m. Wednesday with more details on the retirement.

ST. LOUIS — Police Chief John Hayden announced Wednesday he will retire in February after four years leading the region’s largest police force, ending a tenure marked by events that repeatedly thrust the department into the national spotlight.

“This decision was carefully and prayerfully considered by myself and my family and we all believe that it is time to pass the proverbial baton,” Hayden said at a news conference Wednesday. “I want everyone to know that serving as the 35th police chief of the city of St. Louis has been an honor of a lifetime.”

Hayden will retire on Feb. 23, 2022, the 35th anniversary of his employment with St. Louis police. St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said Wednesday that her administration will conduct a nationwide search in the coming months to find his replacement.

Hayden was appointed by former Mayor Lyda Krewson in December 2017 to lead the department’s approximately 1,200 officers. Former police Chief Sam Dotson had retired months earlier on her first day in office.

Hayden won the job after a nationwide search, months of deliberation, the formation of a citizen advisory committee and a series of forums to gather public feedback.

Before becoming chief, he was commander of the North Patrol Division, oversaw the department’s Internal Affairs and held roles in Vice and Narcotics, the Detective Unit and the Police Academy. He also served as an aide to former Chief Joe Mokwa.

In 2017 forums where Hayden made his case to become chief, he emphasized his deep knowledge of St. Louis and said he hoped to improve community relationships and hold officers accountable for misconduct if he were chosen.

But Hayden has not had a peaceful tenure.

Under his leadership, the department has weathered officer deaths, high-profile police misconduct investigations, a pandemic and a record-breaking 2020 homicide surge.

Major events have included:

• The fatal shooting of St. Louis police Officer Katlyn Alix by a fellow St. Louis officer, Nathaniel Hendren, in January 2019. Hendren pleaded guilty in March to involuntary manslaughter and admitted that he shot Alix in a Russian roulette-style game at his apartment while he was on duty.

• 130 local protests following a national call for police reform after the death in 2020 of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis. The most violent night on June 1, 2020, culminated in looters shooting four St. Louis police officers and killing David Dorn, a retired St. Louis police captain working security at a pawn shop. Hayden gave an emotional press conference to the media that night. “Thank God they’re alive,” Hayden said, clearly angered by the attacks on his officers. “Can we make some sense out of this?” After the shootings the department’s union, the St. Louis Police Officers Association, issued a public letter that they had lost confidence in Hayden’s leadership.

• The death of St. Louis police Officer Tamarris L. Bohannon in the line of duty in August 2020. Bohannon, 29, was responding to a shooting call in the Tower Grove South neighborhood when he was shot by a man barricaded in a home. Hayden called Bohannon the “epitome of a great officer.”

• Three St. Louis police officers went on trial this year after being accused of involvement with the beating and arrest of St. Louis police Detective Luther Hall when he was undercover during a September 2017 protest — before Hayden was chief. One officer, Dustin Boone, was found guilty in June on a federal civil rights charge. Hall settled a civil lawsuit against city police for $5 million earlier this year.

Hayden on Wednesday said his shake-up of the department command personnel, including those leading the department’s internal misconduct investigations, was his greatest accomplishment as chief.

He said his greatest challenge in the role continues to be the difficulty hiring new police officers.

“We’re competing for the best officers in the region and they can go other places and make more money for less demands,” he said.

Hayden for years lobbied the Missouri Legislature to remove the requirement that St. Louis police officers live in the city, which, he argued, was a barrier to officer recruitment and retention. In September 2020, Gov. Mike Parson signed a bill into law that lifted the requirement for St. Louis police and firefighters until at least 2023.

Hayden was also chief through one of the most violent years on record for the city.

The city’s homicide rate last year topped at least the previous 50 years, amid a national surge in violent crime in large U.S. cities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hayden at the time called the summer of 2020 “more demanding than I’ve seen as a St. Louis police officer in 33½ years.”

John is a great man his heart was clear and man of God. The video is clear.

So far in 2021, homicides have returned to slightly below pre-pandemic levels in the city.St. Louis homicides January-AugustTotals include homicide January through August each year2012201320142015201620172018201920202021817084136133138117136185123SOURCE: St. Louis policeDATASHARE×