South County Police Captain Announces Retirement

For 37 years, Capt. Marion “Monty” Monteleone has been wearing the tan and white of the St. Louis County Police Department. But Thursday, he’ll be donning a new uniform as the Director of Security for Pinnacle Entertainment’s River City Casino.

“I’m going to really miss the people, but I’m not going that far,” he said. “I think I’ve had a great career.”

As the captain of the Fourth Precinct, which covers Mehlville, Oakville and Lemay, Monteleone has been working with River City personnel since they opened in 2010. He established a beat to protect the employees and patrons at the casino.

“I did everything I wanted to do,” he said. “I’m leaving a great job in the Fourth (Precinct) and I’m kind of excited to be doing something different.”

Monteleone has worked in the arson and explosives unit as well as the county’s tactical operations or SWAT team.

Chief of St. Louis County Police Col. Tim Fitch said Monteleone was responsible for lowering crime as commander of the fourth precinct.

"He recognized that due to the large number of apartments and multifamily dwellings in South County, that some of those were contributing to crime so he specifically developed programs to address crime issues in those multifamily areas," Fitch said.

The captain met Pinnacle Entertainment CEO Anthony Sanfilippo when he took on . Monteleone won the competition and then met with the CEO while visiting Las Vegas.

It was in Vegas Sanfilippo asked Monteleone if he would consider working as the Director of Security.

“It took me totally by surprise,” Monteleone said. “Before that, I hadn’t even thought about retiring.”

Thursday will be his first day as the casino is hosting a ground-breaking ceremony for its $82 million hotel and convention center expansion.

"Monty's one of those really personable people," Fitch said. "That's why we've assigned him down here because he's got a great working relationship with the citizens of South County. He's done a great job down here."

Capt. Jim Schneider will take over as commander for Monteleone in the Fourth Precinct.