ST. LOUIS — A nonprofit that represents more than 100 St. Louis-area businesses says it will pay a consultant to help implement recommendations made for the city police department.
The Regional Business Council said it will commit $200,000 to pay New York-based consulting firm Teneo, which began working with the department Monday.
Teneo last year conducted a study of the city and St. Louis County police departments that suggested more cooperation between the two departments could help reduce violent crime. It also offered several recommendations on how to reorganize the city department.
RBC CEO Kathy Osborn said she was pleased that city Police Chief John Hayden was eager to implement Teneo's recommendations. The money is being allocated "to help get the whole thing started," Osborn said, adding that no taxpayer funds will be involved. RBC will engage Teneo for a 12-month period, Osborn said.
In a letter to Osborn last month, Hayden wrote that the department had begun to implement Teneo's recommendations, but that "it would be helpful if (Teneo's) assessment team could remain available to monitor the progress of the implementation of the various recommendations, provide additional insight, as potential new challenges emerge and share feedback, as we move forward."
The RBC and member companies of another local business group, Civic Progress, funded the initial Teneo study. Its reports, released in December, didn't address whether the departments should be merged, but said more cooperation would be key to reducing violent crime.
In the city, where most violent crime in the region occurs, Teneo said the department needs to reorganize personnel, bureaus and specialized units "to maximize efficiencies leveraging existing resources."
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