TIM SWOPE CHIEF OF POLICE - A great choice!
The City Administrator, Mayor and City Council did themselves proud Monday evening when they appointed St. Charles County Sheriff TIM SWOPE as St. Charles Police Chief.
Chief Swope, a St. Charles native, has served as the elected Sheriff of St. Charles County for a little over two years. During that time Chief Swope has shown himself to be an exemplary leader for the men and women of the Sheriff’s Department. A qualified and experienced law enforcement officer, Chief Swope will now bring his talents and leadership ability to the officers of the St.Charles Police Department where it is truly needed.
Chief Swope will begin his duties Monday morning with a full plate. There are 30 to 40 officers who refused to sign the recent letters citing emotional distress. These officers showed courage in holding the line and refusing to be made part of nothing more than a political ploy hatched by other members of their department in an attempt to wrest control from the Administration and City Council. These officers need to be shown that their dedication to duty and to the residents of St. Charles will not go unrewarded. The 73 officers who did claim stress and emotional problems need to be dealt with. They need to receive treatment if it is required or if their claims are found to be unjustified they need to be dealt with in a swift manner.
There are officers in the department who violated the civil rights of Council Members and residents and who broke state and federal laws in their attempts to embarrass the City Council. These law breakers need to be dealt with in the same fashion as any other law breakers. Investigation needs to be conducted, charges filed, a trial held and punishment assessed. These are just a few of the challenges facing incoming Police Chief Tim Swope.
These are items that can no longer be swept under the rug. All too often when problems have been uncovered, the attitude of some city officials has been;, well we discovered it, hopefully it won’t happen again. Rather than take any action against anyone they just move on and expect all to be friends. It is time for that attitude to stop. The citizens of St. Charles are looking for leaders who are not afraid to make decisions no matter who is affected.
There has been a lack of discipline and lack of accountability in this City and this police department for too long. When Swope took over the Sheriff’s office he brought with him accountability, leadership, and responsibility and he didn’t take s_ _ _ from anybody. Everyone knew there was a new Sheriff in town.
The residents of St. Charles who have been without a police chief for more than 18 months will be watching Chief Swope very closely. They want a police chief who will hold the members of his department accountable and responsible for their safety and protection. Chief Swope has accepted their challenge.
Chief Swope has demonstrated he has the capability to overcome obstacles and turn the St. Charles Police Department into a unit all residents can be proud of. We wish Chief Swope well and thank him for taking on a task that will bring him new challenges every day.
Chief Swope has shown that he has the capabilities of overcoming obstacles and turning the St. Charles Police Department into a unit that all residents can be proud of. We wish Chief Swope well and thank him for taking on a task that will bring him new challenges every day.
