The members of the Public Safety Department work a 24-hour shift, similar to many fire departments in St. Louis County. However, during the 24-hour shift, eight hours are assigned to performing the function of police officers. Currently, the Des Peres Department of Public Safety is comprised of 44 full-time officers and eight civilian personnel.

Dispatching Personnel
The Department’s dispatching personnel handle all calls for fire, EMS, and police services. The cross-training of our officers has paid off for the City of Des Peres on many occasions and in many incidents. It takes a unique individual to perform all three tasks that are required along with the enormous amount of necessary training.

History of the Department
The Des Peres Department of Public Safety was originally formed in 1958 as a paid fire department with three paid members and 27 volunteers. At that time, the City had a town marshal and decided to study the feasibility and possibility of combining the two functions of fire and police services.

In 1962, the present department was formed with about five members. Since then, the department has operated under the fully integrated public safety configuration, whereby most of its members are qualified firefighters, certified police officers and licensed paramedics or emergency medical technicians.