ST. LOUIS– One day before a Town Hall meeting that was supposed to be when the public learned the names of three finalists to become the next police chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the identities of four finalists  were revealed Monday afternoon in a release from a spokesman for Mayor Tishaura Jones.

The candidates are Michael Sack, the current interim Chief of Police, Chief Larry Boone of the Norfolk, VA police department, Chief Robert Tracy of the Wilmington, DE police department and Deputy Chief Melron Kelly, of the Columbia SC police department.

The search is the second search since John Hayden’s retirement announcement in late 2021. He stayed on until June. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier this year that Mayor Tishaura Jones wanted to “start the process over”  because of the way the city’s former personnel director winnowed the field the first time.

The public is invited to fill out a form to ask questions and identify community concerns ahead of the meeting Tuesday at Vashon High School, starting at 6pm.

Whoever is hired will lead a department that has been re-shaped since Jones took office in the spring of 2021, with a focus on committing resources to address root causes of crime, putting mental health workers out in the field with officers, and working to divert calls that may not require a police response.

Oversight of the department is also in flux on multiple levels. A Board Bill signed by Jones in September to establish a Division of Civilian Oversight to assume internal police investigations involving alleged misconduct and use of force has been put on hold after police unions filed suit and won an injunction in court.

Several state lawmakers have also introduced bills for the coming legislative session which would put St. Louis Police back under the control of a state board. The department has answered to the Mayor’s office since 2013 after a 2012 statewide vote.