The St. Louis County Police Department recently released its 2025 Strategic Plan Annual Update, which catalogues the department’s progress on a five-year plan to improve community engagement, crime reduction and more. Its progress is measured by the completion of 103 “key activities.”
The five-year strategic plan was implemented in January 2023. In order to complete the 103 key activities, the department created seven committees that report their progress to the Commander of the Bureau of Research and Analytics each quarter.
By the end of 2024 — the second year of the plan’s implementation — 21.4% of the key activities were marked as “not started.” The other key activities can be sorted between completed, in-progress and recurring. Here’s the breakdown of some of the key activities completed in 2024:
QR codes and business cards were placed in public waiting areas, directing citizens to a survey where they can leave feedback on all elements of the police department that interact with the public. Commanders are able to monitor the responses.
This year, the Bureau of Communications partnered with BJC Behavioral Health to directly connect callers who have mental health or substance abuse issues to a clinician from the bureau or BJC. The report read, “So far, the program has seen great success, and is being expanded to add another clinician in the Bureau of Communications during non-business hours.”
The public-facing online crime map has been revamped to be “more user-friendly.” It now includes traffic accidents in the department’s patrol zone, as well as hyperlinks to the sex offender registry and other resources. For those going through the court system, a link was added to the department website where they can track their case.
Internally, some positions were transitioned from commissioned positions to professional staff. These new staff positions include the Municipal Contract Services Administrator, Staff Inspector, Director of Communications, Systems Coordinator and Recruiter. Additionally, a leadership development institute was created for professional support within the department.
Throughout the year, the St. Louis County Police Department has also worked toward recurring key activities, and they have more in progress. If the public is interested in the department’s goals, quarterly board meeting presentations can keep them updated on progress. The complete 2025 Strategic Plan Annual Update can be found online.
“We anticipate year three to be filled with the completion of a lot of key activities, and are hopeful that the work done by the committees will continue to positively impact department employees and the citizens of St. Louis County,” the report read.
