A deputy chief with the St. Louis Fire Department will remain the city’s public safety director.
Mayor Tishaura Jones on Thursday removed the "interim" from Charles Coyle's title. He has led the department, the city’s largest, since February, following the retirement of Dan Isom.
“This is special to me,” Coyle said at a news conference. “I stand before you today deeply humbled, honored and profoundly aware of the responsibility this position entails.”
The St. Louis Police Officers Association did not have a comment on Coyle’s promotion. An official with the International Association of Firefighters Local 73 did not respond to a request for comment.
Jones in January had said she would hold a national search to replace Isom, a former police chief who held the role for nearly two years. But she said Coyle’s 45-year career with the fire department made him a perfect fit for the role.
“Chief Coyle has spent his entire professional life working to keep St. Louisans safe. And he understands how to navigate systems while also recognizing what levers to pull to make change happen,” she said.
Coyle ticked off a list of accomplishments touching on every part of his portfolio with public safety. He emphasized the hiring of 26 new 911 dispatchers, which has reduced wait times. And he said he was able to eliminate a backlog of liquor license applications. Crime is also down this year compared to the same time period last year.
But the City Justice Center, in downtown St. Louis, is under growing scrutiny. Three people being held there died within the span of 41 days, and a guard in his 70s was injured in August during a hostage-taking. Activist groups, Board of Aldermen members and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis County, have demanded changes in leadership at the jail. And Coyle and a civilian board tasked with oversight of the jail have clashed over access to the facility.
Members of that board did not immediately return requests for comment.
Coyle said a recent transfer of funds to the health department will help improve the care provided to detainees. And he said the Detention Facilities Oversight Board had been slow in getting required training.
He added that he welcomed a proposed investigation by Republican state Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick.
“We have audits all the time,” he said. “If there is an audit, it can only help us.”
