John W. Hayden, Jr. (born December 4, 1965) is an American law enforcement officer who was appointed as the 35th Police Commissioner of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

on December 28, 2017, by former Mayor

Lyda Krewson Lyda Krewson (born November 14, 1953) is an American retired politician who was the 46th mayor of St. Louis, Missouri. She is a member of the Democratic Party and St. Louis's first female mayor, serving from 2017 to 2021. On November 18, 2020, K ...

, and was St. Louis' fourth African-American Police Commissioner. Byers, Christine
"John W. Hayden Jr. Commissioner of Police"
''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'', December 28, 2017.

Early life and education

Hayden was born in

. He attended and graduated from

Lutheran High School North (Missouri) Lutheran Middle and High School North (LHSN)(All encompassing)is a parochial Christian high school in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri in the United States. It currently offers education in grades six through twelve, and is a ...

in St. Louis in 1981. He received his

Bachelor of Mathematics A Bachelor of Mathematics (abbreviated B.Math or BMath) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for successfully completing a program of study in mathematics or related disciplines, such as applied mathematics, actuarial science, computational ...

degree from

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

and his master's degree in management from

Fontbonne University Fontbonne University is a private Roman Catholic university in Clayton, Missouri. It enrolled 955 students in 2021. Fontbonne is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and it offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degree programs. It ...

. He was accepted into

Saint Louis University School of Law Saint Louis University School of Law, also known as SLU LAW, is a private American law school located in St. Louis, Missouri. It is one of the professional graduate schools of Saint Louis University. The University hosted a law school briefly fro ...

and has completed over 50 credits in their Juris Doctor program. He has also completed 15 hours of graduate coursework in theological studies at the

Covenant Theological Seminary Covenant Theological Seminary, informally called Covenant Seminary, is the denominational seminary of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, it trains people to work as leaders in church positions and elsewher ...

Career

Commissioner Hayden joined the

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department The Metropolitan Police Department of the City of St. Louis (also known as the SLMPD or Metro) is the primary law enforcement agency for the U.S. city of St. Louis. According to the Mapping Police Violence dataset, SLMPD has the highest polic ...

on February 23, 1987, where he served in the Fourth District. He also was assigned to the Vice/Narcotics Division, Fourth District Detective Unit and the Police Academy and Commander of North Patrol. He was appointed as Commissioner of Police on December 28, 2017, at a salary of $153,000 a year. He retired as Commissioner of Police on June 18, 2022 As Commissioner of Police Hayden was responsible for planning, directing, managing and overseeing the activities and operations of the Metropolitan Police Department, including field operations, investigations, support services, and general administration. He also coordinates activities with other city departments and outside agencies. He oversees a department of 1,350 officers and 465 civilian employees with a yearly budget of $370 million. Colonel Hayden is a life member of

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

. He is a member of the Police Executive Research Forum, the

International Association of Chiefs of Police International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia (United States). It is the world's largest professional association for police The police are a constituted body of persons em ...

and the Major Cities Police Chiefs Association. He has served as a deacon at Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church in St. Louis since 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, John Jr. 1962 births Living people People from St. Louis African-American police officers Washington University in St. Louis alumni Washington University in St. Louis mathematicians Mathematicians from Missouri Fontbonne University alumni Commissioners of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Missouri Democrats