When New Haven, Missouri lost its police department, Christopher Neace agreed to revive it — on two conditions: fix officer pay and create a role for a former officer recovering from a devastating line-of-duty injury.
“The decision to rebuild was scary, but it’s been awesome,” Chief Christopher Neace said. He was hired to bring the defunct New Haven Police Department back to life last January; the Missouri town of 2,400 residents had been without local police since the last chief resigned after just a few weeks in February 2024, citing concerns with inventory and evidence handling. When a contract with the sheriff’s office proved too expensive, Neace was willing to resurrect the police department — if his conditions were met.
His conditions weren’t easy, but they were simple. First, fix the miserable pay scale. Next, allow him to bring former officer Adam Sullentrup on as a public relations specialist. Neace explained his reasoning for those two particular conditions.
“The costs for using the sheriff’s office for patrol were unacceptable, but New Haven was one of the lowest paid departments in the region,” he said. “I told them that we cannot — cannot — disband twice because of retention.”
The second condition was a matter of integrity and support for a fellow officer. Sullentrup had worked for the New Haven PD for five years, and then left for a position with the nearby Hermann Police Department. Just three months later, Sullentrup and Detective Sergeant Mason Griffith were shot while responding to a disturbance call at a convenience store. Griffith was killed. Sullentrup survived, beginning a long battle to recover from a devastating traumatic brain injury.
“Mason was my best friend,” Neace said. “My son is named for him. At the time, Adam was only an acquaintance, but he has been relentless in his recovery, and the sheer determination he’s shown is incredible. He is a pillar of strength, a role model. I can’t give him back his career, but I can make sure he knows he’s part of the team. He made the sacrifice and I want that remembered. I’m glad to be in a position to ask that this happens.”
The board of aldermen agreed to Neace’s conditions and NHPD’s new life began.
Taking care of business
Neace set about addressing the practicalities and logistics of bringing a small town department back from the dead. It had to become a solid place to work, and it needed the right crew to do the work. “We didn’t settle,” Neace told me. “I’ll work by myself if I have to until we get quality applicants.”
To attract those applicants, New Haven made significant changes. The department is now the third highest paying in the county. Lateral applicants were offered one for one credit for years of service, and the retirement system was upgraded to compete at the same level with other law enforcement agencies in the county.
“We are never going to be the highest paid, but people will accept cuts to a certain level if the environment is good,” Neace said. “We upgraded the department’s equipment, BWCs, dashcams, patrol cars. The aldermen put effort into making the department a good place, and I’m very thankful for it.”
I asked Neace if the board of aldermen were the same as the ones in office when the police department collapsed. “It’s the same board,” he said. In that case, I asked him, what had changed since then? The answer was clear communication. “Wants versus needs,” Neace said. “It’s not enough to walk into a budget meeting and ask for money. They need to know why.” Neace clarifies the difference between dealbreaker basics and things that are nice to have, and then explains what makes those basics dealbreakers. Understanding breaks down resistance and entrenched barriers.
Staffing like it matters
Neace went all in when he accepted the position. He had worked for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department for some years so he knew the area well. Commuting was acceptable but instead he moved his family into town to be a part of the community.
“When you’re rebuilding, you understand that everyone has openings. But the department is fully staffed now, and I want to add an SRO sometime, too. The hires we’ve made see commitment from the board and support from the citizens,” he said. He’d started with nothing and had nothing to lose, so he held out for people who understood his vision for the new department and wanted in.
His assistant chief brings 30 years of experience in law enforcement and emergency response. Two of his green hires still brought experience and measured responses with them, having attended the police academy later in life; they wanted to keep their communities safe but weren’t twenty-somethings prone to boredom with a small town’s pace. One lateral gave up a sergeant’s position at another department because he believed in Neace’s vision, and a veteran of 17 years walked away from straight days as a detective to patrol New Haven’s streets and help rebuild the department.
Prioritizing connection and rebuilding trust
Rebuilding New Haven’s police department also meant rebuilding the department’s relationship with its citizens. The past years’ turnover and controversy had fractured trust and created distance. Neace started with the town’s children, rehabilitating connections between students, teachers and their police officers. “There had been a history of not wanting officers there (the schools),” Neace said. “Now the schools love them.”
Adam Sullentrup’s role as the department’s public relations specialist bridges the new department to the best parts of its past. Before his catastrophic line of duty injury in Hermann, his nickname in New Haven was “Officer Hottie”; the community’s soft spot for their local hero is still apparent as they came together with first responders throughout the county to help build Sullentrup a mortgage-free, accessible Smart Home through the Gary Sinise Foundation. He accompanies Neace on visits throughout the community, shaking hands and touching lives.
Visibility had long been a complaint in New Haven. Now it is a source of positive response, with intentional officer presence at back-to-school nights and food drives. Education and connection are prioritized over citations on traffic stops. New Haven’s officers are encouraged to remember that even if a call seems minor, to the person calling it’s the worst thing in their world at that moment.
Neace runs the department’s social media personally and is noted for keeping the tone familiar and funny. “You can have some fun on Facebook,” he said. “The world sucks, why make it worse? We are trying to prevent crime, but balance is okay.” That tactic is paying off. A comment on one thread simply stated, “I hate cops, but your posts make you seem like someone I can talk to. If I needed a cop, I would talk with you.”
Neace added a caution to that sentiment. “We will do the PR and the communication and the appearances, but I let people know, if you screw up, I will take you to jail. I’m not here to babysit, I’m not here to be your friend.” He extends the concept of balance to the officers who work New Haven’s streets as well, encouraging them not to miss family functions because of a job. It’s a small department and everyone - himself included - tries to be flexible enough and communicate clearly enough to keep the workplace covered while allowing officers to slip off to a Little League game or meet family for a meal.
What’s next?
Neace is 37, young for a police chief, and he’s been in law enforcement since 2011. Maybe someday he’ll eventually want to run for sheriff, but it’s only been about a year since he started building a professional department from the rubble of a defunct one. He may not be done yet, he said, “But I will leave this place better than I found it.”
