Apr. 7, 2008
Assistant Police Chief Brings Honor to the Job
By Vice Mayor Lowell Huggins
Over the past several months I’ve written stories about two of the three Assistant Police Chiefs who serve Chandler. This will finish the series with a look at Dave Neuman. Dave joined Joe Gaylord and Rick Brzuchalski as assistant chiefs during a department reorganization last year. Police Chief Sherry Kiyler could not have three more professional and dedicated individuals backing her up.
The assistant chiefs help Chief Kiyler manage the day-to-day business of running a Police Department that has more than 500 employees – 334 of which are sworn officers. The chiefs oversee three main areas of the force: Support Services (areas like planning, research and communications), Field Operations (the officers on patrol), and Professional Services (forensics, investigations and community services, and emergency operations).
Dave began his law enforcement career in Iowa in 1979 and joined the Chandler Police Department in 1986. He has held assignments in Patrol, the Criminal Investigations Section, the Professional Standards Section and the Special Assignment Unit. You may recall he also served as the Interim Police Chief from January 2003 to January 2004 after the retirement of former Chief Bobby Joe Harris. He is also a 2004 graduate of the FBI National Academy.
I am glad I chose to write about Dave last because I can now talk about the leadership role he played in the arrest of the Chandler serial rapist. As part of his job, he oversees the Criminal Investigations Bureau of the Department. Members of the Department spent more than 28,000 hours on the case. Officers followed up on more than 2,000 leads and 900 individuals were investigated. It was an exhausting experience for everyone involved. But through it all, the dedication and professionalism of our department did not waver. That is a testament to both Chief Kiyler and Assistant Chief Neuman and their leadership skills and ability to manage their resources to ensure levels of service never dropped.
While it seems like this would be a drain on our Department’s resources, our crime rates are actually dropping in Chandler. In fact, the City’s per capita crime rate is the lowest it’s been this decade. The 2007 rate dropped more than 11 percent from the prior year. Except for robbery and homicide, all major Chandler crime categories have seen some significant reductions including a 29 percent decrease in auto thefts and a 21 percent decrease in aggravated assault. Again, these numbers show that our department, and its leadership are doing the right things.
While Dave has committed himself fully to the job, he also likes to relax through sports and by helping young people in the community. An avid softball player, Dave has been actively involved in coaching girls’ amateur fastpitch softball teams for the past ten years. In fact his teams now play at the highest level in the country and more than 30 of his former players are now playing at the collegiate level. Additionally, his youngest daughter is currently a member of the nationally ranked Arizona State Sun Devils softball team.
Dave Neuman is just one more example of a Police Department that is dedicated to excellence and to the people of this community. |