David Wilson is set to walk away from a career in law enforcement.
The 61-year-old Eureka Police captain is retiring. His official departure date is Dec. 31, but because of accrued vacation time, his final day on duty is scheduled to be Friday.
“It is hard to think about,” Wilson said. “You can’t really get used to the idea yet. I have been doing the same thing for a long time. I’m coming up on 41 years; that should be long enough.”
Wilson has been with the Eureka Police Department since 1987.
He began his law enforcement career with the St. Louis County Police Department in 1980 before going to work as a division special agent for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad from 1985 to 1987.
The Eureka resident has served as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant, lieutenant and captain for Eureka’s department.
“You are seeing the countdown to an era ending when a long-time employee and friend is going on to bigger and better things, which is what retirement is for him,” Police Chief Michael Wiegand said. “It is going to be a big change and a lot different here. He will be missed.”
Becoming an officer
Wilson said he first became interested in police work when he was about 19 and joined the Explorer program sponsored by the St. Louis County Police Department.
The program, offered by the Boy Scouts of America, allowed youngsters to see how the department worked and gave them a chance to ride with officers on patrol. He was attending community college and planning on joining the Marines when he submitted a resume to join the St. Louis County Police.
At 20 years old, Wilson said he didn’t think the department would hire him, and he figured he would start in the military before returning home and trying to become an officer again. “I remember telling my (Marine) recruiter as soon as I hear back (from the St. Louis County Police) I will be down here to sign up,” Wilson said.
Instead of hearing a no, Wilson was brought into the St. Louis County Police after completing training in the St. Louis Police Academy.
“I would say I was too young,” Wilson said. “Twenty-one is when you are legally allowed to start a career in law enforcement. I found it difficult. I survived, but sometimes I wish they would have turned me down and then I would have gone into the Marines and come back. I would have liked to have had that opportunity.”
Wilson was a patrol man in the Lemay precinct for his first three years before transferring to west St. Louis County in 1983. That is when he became familiar with Eureka.
“That is how he and I met, when I was a (Eureka Police) patrolman,” Wiegand said. “When I first started out here, there was nobody out here. It was just one or two of us on at a time, and St. Louis County guys would hang out here because Chesterfield wasn’t incorporated and neither was Wildwood. The beat that Dave rode went from the Meramec River in Eureka to the Missouri River in Chesterfield. Of course, there was nothing out there but cornfields. So when something was going on, it was usually here, because this was the next town.”
Wilson said he left the St. Louis County Police to work for the railroad because the pay and benefits package were attractive. After two years, however, the railroad sold its land so the Katy Trail could be developed, and he was staring at either joining the Union Pacific Railroad and likely being transferred out of state or unemployment.
“We (Wilson and his wife, Susan) were having our first child and too many things were going on, so we didn’t want to pursue (a transfer),” Wilson said. “I was living in Catawissa, and I knew the (Eureka Police) chief. We had talked and he had an opening.”
Eureka career
Wilson said when he started with Eureka, the department had 10 officers. It has since grown to include 27 officers, three full-time clerks and seven part-time employees.
He said he was promoted from patrol duties to sergeant in 1989 and worked as a detective during that time as well. He then became a lieutenant in 1991 and was promoted to captain in 2018 after money became available with the passage of Proposition P, a countywide sales tax for law enforcement.
“My greatest joy in what I do is I look at myself as support for the officers,” Wilson said. “I make sure that the officers are scheduled, so they are not working more than they should. I make sure that they get their paycheck. I make sure they get the adequate training they need and the equipment they have is the best that we can provide.”
Wilson said one of his best experiences in law enforcement was in 2004 when he attended the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.
“It is a program the FBI provides to law-enforcement executives throughout the world,” said Wilson, who has an associate degree in criminal justice and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Webster University. “You go through the management program and physical requirements. It is strenuous both physically and mentally. It is a great program. You live with officers from all over the world. I enjoyed it tremendously.”
Wiegand said while administrative roles are shared throughout the department, Wilson shouldered the bulk of those duties. The chief said the captain’s work performance and personality will be missed in the department.
“Daily and weekly, he has lightened our loads,” Wiegand said. “There are a lot of moving parts in a police department, and Dave did a lot of that moving to make it work right. He always has a joke to tell or a smart quip to answer something that will make you laugh. He always joked around as much as he could, and made you want to come in and do your job.”
Close calls
Wilson said he found himself in a few tight spots during his career.
While working with the St. Louis County Police, he was called when a young girl was threatening to kill herself with a knife. After being unable to calm her down, Wilson was called upon to disarm her from behind. “As I did so, she turned around and swung at me with the knife,” Wilson said. “She just missed me. She got part of my vest. I was able to get her down and get the knife away.”
With Eureka, Wilson was called to investigate a shooting in a church parking lot in the Allenton area. The suspect had tried to rob a man at knifepoint, but the victim shot the would-be robber.
When Wilson arrived, the alleged thief was on the ground, but he did not remain there as Wilson approached.
“He jumped up and started fighting me,” Wilson said. “He had gotten me down on the ground, and he was winning the fight. I was fortunate a St. Louis County Police officer had responded, and he helped me. I was there alone for a while and I was struggling with a guy. We were able to subdue him.”
Wilson said incidents like those and having to deliver bad news to relatives of victims involved in crimes, car accidents or other incidents are days he will not miss.
“Those are bad days, and I don’t want to have any more of those,” Wilson said. “The bad days are when there are car crashes and having to tell the families of a death, those are days you don’t want to remember.”
Leaving
Wiegand said promotions will be coming with Wilson’s departure.
“We have prepared for people below him to have jobs taken care of, and eventually, there will be some promotions and testing for other promotions” Wiegand said. “Several people will be moving up, and we will hire other people.”
Wilson said it is hard for him to leave in part because of the current climate surrounding police.
“I hate leaving at a time when there is so much controversy,” Wilson said. “It makes it harder walking away at a time when it is hard to find officers. It will be harder and harder to replace officers.”
He also said he will miss his fellow officers and others he has worked with in the department. “It has been the greatest group I have ever had the pleasure to work with,” Wilson said. “They are extremely dedicated, and they made my job so easy, I felt guilty getting paid for it.”
Wilson said he hopes to spend more time with his grown children – Ash, Jake and Luke – and his three grandchildren during retirement. He also said he would like to travel with his wife, who works in sales at RotoMetrics in Eureka.
“I have missed a lot of things over the years when I was working shifts,” Wilson said. “I would like to spend time with my grandkids and family.
“I will have some more time with my wife. She is planning on retiring in the not-too-distant future. The icing on the cake is when we both retire, and we won’t have work restrictions.”