On Friday, Governor Mike Kehoe named Derek Winters as the man who will lead the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s transition from a locally controlled agency to one overseen by the state.
While city leaders are not happy about state control, with some even suing to stop its implementation, Winters—a city native and WashU grad—seems to be anything but a contentious pick.
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“He comes with a lot of business sense and wants to do good for the city,” says Ben Borgmeyer, the Democratic director for the city’s Board of Elections, for which Winters previously served as a commissioner. Borgmeyer gave his former colleague high marks for that role.
Winters currently works at KNOWiNK, a family-owned, St. Louis based company that creates polling technology used by states and municipalities to hold elections. Prior to that, he was board chair of Saint Louis Makes, an industry group for small and mid-sized manufacturers.
“He is numbers first. He’s a business person, but he’s very personable and very conversation-oriented, very low key. I’ve never seen the guy excitable once, and I’ve seen him in rooms where people didn’t agree with his opinion or he with theirs,” says Marc Bowers, executive director of St. Louis Makes. “He’s a good personality, but more importantly, I think he’s a good set of experiences.”
Why It Matters: Re-implementing state control in St. Louis only escalated the contentious relationship between Jefferson City and St. Louis. But the choice of Winters ought to be something of an olive branch—or at the very least a sign that Kehoe isn’t looking to troll the city to gin up his base. Mayor Cara Spencer issued a statement re-iterating that she disagreed with Kehoe on state control, but said she had “full confidence that this appointment doesn’t change the chief’s ability to lead” and she looked forward to meeting Winters.
Chief Robert Tracy issued a statement of his own, saying, “I fully support the Governor’s appointment and look forward to meeting and working with Mr. Winters during this shift of governance. Our priorities remain clear—maintaining public safety, supporting our officers. and continuing to serve the City of St. Louis.”
What’s Next: Under state law, Kehoe must appoint four civilian commissioners by June 24. They’ll be joined by Mayor Spencer and one non-voting member (another Kehoe pick).
