County executive Sam Page appointed Dr. Laurie Punch and Professor Thomasina Hassler to the St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners on Thursday.
Pending County Council approval, Punch and Hassler will replace current board members Bishop Lawrence Wooten and Art Johnson.
Punch, of Ferguson, is an associate professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine, where she focuses on resident education in gun violence management and prevention. In May, her work was featured in a TED talk entitled “How Bullets Go Deep.” Punch also runs Stop the Bleed STL, a nonprofit collaborative of health professionals working to reduce the impact of violence, trauma and injury in the St. Louis region.
Hassler, of Black Jack, is an assistant professor at Harris-Stowe State University and a scholar-in-residence at University of Missouri-St. Louis. After working as a classroom teacher in the St. Louis Public School District and as a high school counselor in the Webster Groves School District, she completed her PhD in education with an emphasis in social justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She also serves as the director of social justice ministry at West Side Missionary Baptist Church, and has worked as a trainer for Diversity Awareness Partnership.
“Dr. Punch and Professor Hassler will make a great addition to the Police Board as we continue this critical transition period,” Page said. “Change in the Police Department begins at the top, and in St. Louis County, that is the police board. We will continue making changes in a thoughtful manner to ensure a welcoming work environment for our police employees while providing the high-quality police services that keep our residents safe.”
If confirmed, Punch and Hassler will join Michelle Schwerin to form the first majority female police board in county history