EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The East St. Louis Police Department has new leadership Thursday after the former chief abruptly retired a week ago.
Mayor Robert Eastern III provided a statement that read:
"East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III recently announced that Police Chief Kendall Perry has officially retired from the East St. Louis Police Department and that Cantrell Patterson, the former Assistant Police Chief, will now serve as the East St. Louis Chief of Police."
"Before Perry's retirement announcement, he faced a disciplinary hearing to show cause for certain activities under his administration scheduled for Jan. 17. After failing to attend the hearing, Perry effectively retired Jan. 18, 2023."
Citizens said they want to see the department improve.
Cheryl Foxworth said she wants to see more cooperation.
"I think we want to see the leadership interacting more with the citizens and getting input from citizens,” Foxworth said. “Town hall meetings don't seem to work. There might need to be community outreach efforts. We need to all work together. The police chief here in East St. Louis, the chief on Cahokia Heights and Washington Park. They need to come together to see what they can do to make the entire community a better place to live.”
Dr. Larita Rice-Barnes, executive director of Metro East Organization Coalition, said she wants to see a chief who can relate culturally with residents and be transparent.
She would like the department to turn over the duties of running violence intervention programs to the community.
“They should be ran by people who are on the ground working, grassroots leaders and organizations working with people who have been affected,” Rice-Barnes said.
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