Mayor Plans to Form Committee for Police Chief Search

St. Charles City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved St. Louis County Police Capt. Lawrence Stulce's appointment as the interim police chief for St. Charles for the next six months.

Councilman Mike Weller, Ward-5, was absent from the work session. Stulce will be sworn during the May 15 council meeting. His first day is May 14.

The city plans to conduct a national search for a new police chief, and expects to hire someone by the end of the year.

Director of Administration Michael Spurgeon said Mayor Sally Faith hasn't yet decided whether she wants to hire an outside search firm to assist in the process. In June, Faith will sit down with the human resources department and talk about the options with the goal of hiring someone in six months. 

"What she plans to do is form a committee of about five to nine people," he said, adding that they could include staff members, council members, police officers, business leaders and community members. Those people would help identify the types of experience and skills a candidate should have.

Things like leadership and communication skills are a given, said Spurgeon.

"That's why Larry Stulce has been recommended to the community, because of his leadership ability," he said.

Stulce will take an unpaid leave of absence from St. Louis County Police Department, where he worked as Commander of the Bureau of Drug Enforcement. His benefits will continue with St. Louis County and St. Charles will reimburse the county about $3,700 for that cost, Spurgeon said.

Stulce will be paid $52,500 salary for his time in St. Charles. The city is paying former police chief 6 months salary severance package, about $59,000. Corley resigned from his post as chief in April.

Stulce said he'll work with the police officers to set the tone for the organization and provide quality service.

"It's all about communication, as a law enforcement officer, we'll communicate and we'll talk about what they are seeing and the direction they'll like to see the organization go," he said. 

Stulce declined to say whether he's interested in police chief position. He said for now he's doing to do the job he's been given and when the full time job is posted, "we'll see."

Stulce lives in St. Charles said it'll be nice to be a part of the community in a different capacity.

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