The University of Missouri-St. Louis is currently in the market for a new chief of police. Chief Bob Roeseler resigned last semester and now the search is on to find a worthy candidate to fill his shoes.

“I’ve been the interim chief ever since Bob Roeseler got sick. He became very ill around this time last year, and he had to undergo a very complicated surgery. From that and all the rehabilitation, he decided retiring would be in his best interest,” John Schupp, police lieutenant, operations manager, said.

“[Roeseler’s] retirement wasn’t actually effective until October of 2009, and we had to wait until this was effective to begin an official search for a new chief, due to Human Resources and payroll restrictions.

Sometime around October, the Provost came to me to chair a selection committee, because I wasn’t going to run for the permanent position,” Schupp said.

Once the search began, the opening was posted both locally and nationally. By December last year all the applications were submitted and the committee narrowed the pool of candidates.

“Through evaluation of applications and resumes, as well as telephone interviews, we’re down to three candidates. These candidates will be on campus on the 15th, 16th and 18th of March,” Schupp said.

With the diverse group of students and heavy commuter enrollment at UM-St. Louis, it was suggested that diversity awareness would be an important factor in the hiring of a new chief.

“This position is critical for our campus since we service the rest of the community. Ergo, individuals in that position must have a commitment and understanding,” Deborah Burris, Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity, said.

Burris explained that if the police chief were not sensitive to diversity, it would be hard for her or him to optimally do their job.

“Issues arise concerning women, peoples of color, religion, etc. Would these candidates be sensitive to these factors? We have a large disability population as well, which means we need a police department which is willing to help those students …. Students from other countries may require assistance as well, and we should make sure that our environment is safe and comfortable for them,” Burris said.

“There are many aspects as to why understanding diversity is important, and a new chief of police ought to understand them all,” Burris said.

Students also have opinions regarding the search. “I think our new chief should help to fairly and justly uphold the law. Aside from that, I don’t mind much what our new chief is like,” Mikal Soltys, junior, political science and business, said.

But not all students feel as Soltys does. Brandace Grossich, sophomore, theater and dance, thinks the new chief needs to do more than just uphold the law.

“The chief needs to understand the needs of our campus specifically. If he doesn’t care about UMSL, he won’t thrive here,” Grossich said.

Groissich and Soltys though, as for all UM-St. Louis students, will have the opportunity to share in the process of choosing a new police chief, if they so choose.

“The whole campus will have an opportunity to meet with them. There will also be an exclusive meeting for students to speak with the candidates.”

“It won’t take much longer after these on-campus events to pick a candidate,” Schupp said.

So, for those interested in meeting and possibly influencing the hiring of the future chief of police at UM-St. Louis, they are encouraged to attend the scheduled meetings on March 15th, 16th and 18th.

Within the next week, an email will be sent out campus-wide with more information on the locations and times of the meetings.