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Chesterfield County Police Chief Jeffrey Katz Announces Retirement
VACP Immediate Past President Colonel Jeffrey Katz, chief of the Chesterfield County Police Department, is retiring effective May 1.
Katz, who was sworn into office in January 2018, has accepted a position with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). As an instructor assigned to the Training Division's Leadership Development Unit, he'll provide training to senior law enforcement executives from around the world, as well as new FBI agents and existing staff, at the FBI Academy in Quantico.
“It has truly been an honor to work alongside my dedicated brothers and sisters in the Chesterfield County Police Department and to serve such an incredible community. There is no better place in the country to be a police chief,” Katz said.
“At this juncture in my life, it's time to give back to a profession I so deeply respect and this new role will give me an opportunity to do that from the broadest possible platform,” he added. “I plan to use what we have built in Chesterfield as a benchmark example of what can be accomplished in local policing and help others answer the call for leadership in their communities.”
Already a well-managed agency, CCPD's performance during Katz's tenure has elevated its standing regionally, statewide and on national level.
In 2022, CCPD was recognized as a Thought Leader Organization by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and named the top agency in the nation for comprehensive officer safety practices by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Foundation (NLEOMF).
Last year, it ranked fourth among the country's largest police departments for its National Night Out activities – an important measure of community engagement – and earned top honors from NLEOMF for its comprehensive traffic safety initiatives.
“Col. Katz has made a tremendous impact on our police department and community and helped Chesterfield become a leader among leaders in public safety,” said James M. “Jim” Holland, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “We regret he is leaving us, but we're proud that he will in many ways be representing all that is good and just in Chesterfield through his work at the FBI Academy.”
On a personal level, in 2022 Katz was elected president of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and appointed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to serve on the Criminal Justice Services Executive Board. The same year, he was selected as a finalist for the Patrick V. Murphy Award for Leading Change in Policing.
“Once I saw a pre-recorded video of Col. Katz as part of the 2017 recruitment process, I knew we had the missing ingredient to take a great department and make it a model of modern policing for the entire country,” said County Administrator Dr. Joe Casey. “He will be greatly missed, and will remain a dear friend to myself and many others in Chesterfield, but his legacy are the men and the women of CCPD and tremendous community support for the next chief to inherit.”
Katz intends to continue reporting for duty as usual until March 31. Because Katz will be on leave throughout the month of April, he will designate Lt. Col. Brad Badgerow, deputy chief of strategic management, as acting chief in his absence.
Under the county charter, the Board of Supervisors will select a permanent police chief on the recommendation of a committee comprised of not more than five people. The committee consists of the county administrator and each of the following:
- A member of the Board of Supervisors
- A citizen, who is not an employee of CCPD, to be appointed by the chief judge of the Circuit Court
- A person with police experience, to be appointed by the Board of Supervisors
- A fifth member of the panel, to also be appointed by the board, who cannot be either an elected or appointed county official.
Source: https://www.chesterfield.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=4519