ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Police Officers Association voted Wednesday against renewing a contract with its controversial business manager Jeff Roorda, but he remains employed by the union, the I-Team has learned.
The police union voted in a closed session against renewing a contract with Roorda, who recently announced his candidacy as a Republican for state Senate.
Had the union not taken a vote Wednesday, the contract would have automatically renewed, according to multiple sources familiar with the vote.
His current contract expires at the end of April, according to the sources.
St. Louis Police Officers Association President Jay Schroeder said Roorda’s employment status has not changed, and would not comment beyond that.
Roorda said: “As everybody knows, I’m running for Senate and I might take a leave of absence to concentrate on that.”
Next month will mark Roorda’s eleventh year with the police union. He made national headlines and became a regular guest on CNN and Fox News shows during the Ferguson protests, criticizing the Black Lives Matter movement.
He took heat for a social media post in which he wrote about President Barrack Obama having “blood on his hands,” following the killing of five police officers during an ambush shooting in Texas.
He published a book in 2016 titled, “The War on Police: How the Ferguson Effect is Making America Unsafe.”
He has frequently traded barbs with city leaders and members of the Ethical Society of Police, a membership organization that represents mostly Black officers.
Before joining the police union, he served as a police officer for 17 years and in eight years the state legislature.
