Tagged: St. Louis Police Department

Updated at 7 pm with comments from Dotson, Mayor Francis Slay, and the police union.

A 18-year veteran of the St. Louis Police Department who has spent the last 18 months assigned to City Hall as the operations director for Mayor Francis Slay is the chief of police for the city.

The praise was widespread, and the plaques and gifts many on Tuesday as local, state and federal law enforcement agencies gathered at the headquarters of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department to pay tribute to Chief Dan Isom.

Isom is retiring in January to take a position with the criminology department at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Isom, who has been chief since October 2008, has his bachelor's, masters and doctorate from the school.

The process of turning control of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department over to City Hall begins today.

Ald. Craig Schmid, the chair of the public safety committee at the Board of Aldermen, will introduce the bill in which the city accepts "responsibility, ownership and liability as the successor-in-interest for contractual obligations, indebtedness and other lawful obligations of the Board of Police Commissioners."