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ST. LOUIS — Interim ӣ����Ƶ police Chief Michael Sack joined the department 26 years ago and has led it for the last six months. He’s a retired priest, advocates for data-driven policing, and was criticized following the creation of a controversial black list of officers in 2018.

Sack is now one of four finalists — and the only internal candidate — vying to be ӣ����Ƶ’ next police chief. He said his experience policing in ӣ����Ƶ for almost three decades makes him the best candidate because he has a first-hand understanding of the city’s culture, its landscape and struggles.

“I love the city of ӣ����Ƶ and I love this department,” Sack said Tuesday night during a town hall, where a moderator asked each candidate questions about their vision and qualifications.

ӣ����Ƶ officials have said they will announce a new police chief by the end of the year. If Sack is permanently appointed chief, he’ll lead a department with large staffing vacancies in a city where the homicide rate is among the highest in the country and the government is rife with political divides.

Sack has once before been in the running to take over as chief, when last year he was one of two finalists in the city’s first search to fill the position. The search was called off by ӣ����Ƶ Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, who wanted a more diverse pool of candidates. Sack and Lt. Col. Lawrence O’Toole were the final two candidates, both are white men with long leadership careers in the department.

In 2018, while he was commander of the Bureau of Professional Standards, ӣ����Ƶ Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner claimed Sack thanked her for creating a list of 28 officers with “credibility” issues, from whom she would stop accepting cases and prohibit from serving as witnesses. Former police Chief John Hayden denied that Sack had any role in creation of the list.

Still, the ӣ����Ƶ Police Officers Association, which represents about 1,000 police officers in the city, was critical of Sack’s involvement at the time.

Before joining the agency in 1994, Sack served for four years as an ordained priest at St. Pius V Catholic Church under the Archdiocese of ӣ����Ƶ.

“I loved the service that allowed me to perform, but after a period of time and some discernment, I believed that I had a different calling so I came to be a police officer,” he said Tuesday during a candidate town hall. “Remarkably, these two (professions) are very similar in career paths — they’re all about service, they’re all about putting others above oneself.”

Sack worked in District Four, the Central Patrol Detective Bureau, the Special Services Division and has served as the department’s interim chief since former Chief John Hayden retired June 18.

He said addressing violent crime needs to be a joint effort with the community and argued Tuesday night it’s crucial to leverage technology and data to determine where to put officers in the city strategically to target and reduce criminal activity.

“Violent crime is down 5% and we can say that’s a great thing, but the reality is we have people out here who have been victimized,” Sack said. “We have a lot of work to do, but it’s not just police — it’s a collective effort.”

He also emphasized the importance of working with legislators to pass stricter gun control laws, referencing the fatal shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience in late October.

The gunman there, former student Orlando Harris, killed two there with an AR-15-style rifle his family had unsuccessfully asked authorities to confiscate nine days before the shooting. A teacher and student were killed and several wounded.

Sack also said he spent four years as inspector of police, revamping the department’s internal affairs unit and creating the body camera unit under chief Hayden.

“It’s nothing like a job of integrity that can teach you a lesson,” Sack said. “Integrity is the ability to do the right thing when no one else is looking. And sometimes it can be hard to be that person who has to hold others accountable. And it can be hard to create a unit to hold officers accountable, which is the expectation of the community.”

Sack was a first lieutenant in the Army Reserves. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communication from Cardinal Glennon College and two master’s degrees in divinity from Kenrick Seminary.

He also has a master’s degree in business and organization security management, and graduated from the FBI Academy in 2014.

“So I’ve got a good amount of education that helps me to be self-disciplined and organized,” Sack said Tuesday. “Writing a lot of papers, you learn to be organized and organize your thoughts. I think being a good writer is important, you’ve got to be able to communicate, especially as the chief, in writing.”

This is the second of four profiles highlighting finalists for ӣ����Ƶ police chief. Read our stories on fellow finalists Larry Boone and Robert Tracy.