Sikeston chief named to lead Missouri Department of Public Safety

Governor-elect Eric Greitens announced Monday that Drew Juden was named director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, according to a news release.

Juden has served as the director of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety since 2001 and had worked for the Sikeston Department of Public Safety since 1978, according to the release.

Juden and Greitens spoke at a news conference Monday in Ferguson, Missouri.

In his introduction, Greitens called Juden a dedicated and accomplished public servant who is an outsider to Jefferson City politics.

“Drew Juden is the public safety director and police chief in Sikeston, Missouri. He is the former president of the Missouri Police Chiefs Association and a SWAT team commander,” Greitens wrote in a news release. “These two men are committed public servants and exceptional public safety officials. I will always have their back, and they will always have ours. Their mission is simple: Make Missouri a safe state to raise a family.”

Sikeston Department of Public Safety direct Drew Juden speaks Monday after he was announced by Governor-elect Eric Greitens as the new director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.Eric Greitens campaign via Facebook

St. Louis Fire Department Capt. Greg Favre was named deputy director of the Missouri Department of Public Safety.

Juden and Favre’s appointments are subject to confirmation by the Missouri Senate.

Juden will begin working on the governor-elect’s transition team Jan. 9, according to the release.

“I’m very humbled to be here today, and it is my honor and privilege to accept the appointment to the Missouri Department of Public Safety,” Juden said during the news conference.

Greitens and Juden talked about how the state’s response might be different if another large-scale, confrontational protest took place in Missouri, according to an Associated Press story. Sometimes-violent protests broke out in Ferguson over the August 2014 fatal shooting of an unarmed, black 18-year-old by a white police officer.

Juden vowed another Ferguson-like event would not happen if he led the Missouri Department of Public Safety. He said he would improve state law-enforcement relationships with local public safety officers and residents across the state.

“You have lots of in-person meetings, you be proactive in your policing,” Juden said. “Establish those community relationships, recognize everybody has skin in the game.”

During Juden’s tenure as Sikeston DPS director, the department participated in a regional street crimes task force, major case squad, power squad, bomb squad, early adoption of body cameras and Tasers and training in de-escalation, defensive tactics and crisis intervention, according to the release.

“The appointment of Drew Juden to the director of public safety for the state of Missouri is a testament to the incredible department Drew has developed in Sikeston,” Sikeston Mayor Steven Burch wrote in the release. “Under his leadership our Public Safety Department has continually been recognized as one of the best trained organizations of its type in the state.”

Capt. Mike Williams will serve as interim director of the Sikeston Department of Public Safety. Williams has been with Sikeston DPS since 1993 and was promoted to captain in 2011.

“We are very proud of director Juden, especially me. He has been a great leader and friend,” Williams wrote in a news release. “It has been a great privilege working under him, and he will be missed. I am so honored to be placed in the interim position of the director of Public Safety.”

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 9990 W. Florissant Ave., St. Louis, MO