An Interim Police Chief has been selected to lead the Sanford Police Department, Sanford City Manager Norton N. Bonaparte, Jr., announced Tuesday.
By the end of the week, Richard Myers, former chief of police in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will assume duties as the Interim Police Chief. Myers also served as police chief in Appleton, WI, and in the suburbs of Detroit and Chicago.
Myers is a 35-year-veteran of law enforcement and a nationally recognized leader, a statement from the Sanford Police Department said. According to the statement, Myers has led both large and small departments in rural and urban communities. His largest command was a force of almost 1,000 sworn and civilian employees. He has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Michigan State University, where he studied the model of Community Oriented Policing developed by MSU’s Director of the School of Criminal Justice, the late Dr. Robert Trojanowicz.
Since the controversy surrounding the Trayvon Martin Case and after Police Chief Bill Lee temporarily stepped aside, Sanford’s Police Department has been led by Captain Darren Scott. Although the City Commission passed a vote of no confidence in Lee after the bungling in the Martin case, they subsequently rejected a proposal by Bonaparte to remove him. Chief Lee is currently on paid administrative leave.
A news Conference will be held on Friday at 11:00 am at Sanford Cit y Hall to introduce Interim Chief Myers.
