The Sanford, Florida police department has been at the center of the Trayvon Martin case and today, City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. announced that the former chief of police in Colorado Springs, Colo., has been hired as interim police chief in Sanford.
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Richard Myers, who also served as chief in Appleton, Wis., and in suburbs of Chicago and Detroit, is a 35-year law enforcement veteran.
Myers takes over a turbulent department reeling from the slaying of Trayvon, who was shot to death by crime-watch volunteer George Zimmerman over two months ago.
The department has been led temporarily by Capt. Darren Scott, who was appointed when police Chief Bill Lee temporarily stepped aside amid criticism of his department’s investigation of the killing.
Last week Lee was denied a resignation request by Sanford officials.
Meyers retired last October and according to the statement released by the Colorado Gazette:
“When Mayor Bach was elected, I told him I was here to serve, and would do so loyally and do my best to lead the department in the direction he wanted to take the City, until such time that he felt he needed to bring in his own chief.
Recently, he informed me he is ready to make a change in direction, and he is continuing to methodically create his own management team. Consequently, I have agreed to make room for this to happen by retiring from the CSPD.
I have been positioning the PD to make the changes sought by the Mayor, and have every confidence that the men and women of the Department are well prepared to implement those changes.”
SOURCE: Gazette
