Chandler names new police chief as department grapples with internal turmoil
Longtime Phoenix police official Bryan Chapman will take over as chief of Chandler's Police Department in April, according to an official announcement from the city on Wednesday.
Chapman has spent the last three decades working in law enforcement, including 25 years at the Phoenix Police Department. He most recently served as an assistant police chief in Phoenix, where he oversaw that agency's Employment Services Bureau, Training Bureau and Organizational Integrity Bureau.
In recent weeks, Chapman became the Phoenix Police Department's public face in its campaign to tout internal reforms. Phoenix has been trying to get ahead of the U.S. Justice Department before it releases its widely anticipated findings about alleged civil rights abuses, after a 2 1/2-year investigation.
Chapman will replace former Chandler Police Chief Sean Duggan, who retired in January after nearly 40 years in policing.
“I am honored to join Team Chandler and work alongside the incredible men and women of the Chandler Police Department,” Chapman said in a city press release. “Together, and with community collaboration, we will focus on the continuous improvement of the organization to keep Chandler safe for residents, businesses and visitors.”
Chapman is taking the reigns at an unusual time for Chandler's often lauded police agency, which has simultaneously achieved historically low rates of serious crime and found itself embroiled in an alleged corruption scandal.
The controversy was sparked last month when an email surfaced that Duggan had sent to Chandler City Manager Josh Wright in November. In it, Duggan alleged that the FBI was investigating public corruption involving Chandler Law Enforcement Association president Officer Michael Collins and City Councilmember Jane Poston.
More: FBI probing corruption claims involving Chandler councilmember, former police chief says
The police union spent about $183,000 on "advertising and promotion" between 2020 and 2022, draining about a third of the union's total assets during that timeframe, according to its nonprofit IRS forms.
At least some of that cash went to Poston's marketing company, called J2 Media. Neither Poston nor the union told The Arizona Republic exactly how much of that money went to the councilmember's firm.
Collins and Poston deny any wrongdoing, and neither they nor the city said they were aware of any federal corruption probe into their business dealings.
Chapman will have to navigate any potential fallout from that situation and the political dynamics between Chandler's police department higher-ups and union leaders. That relationship has been tense in recent years, mainly over public disagreements about police staffing.
Wright, the city manager, said he selected Chapman out of a pool of 40 candidates following a "national recruitment" process to find a new police chief.
“(Chapman will) build upon our culture of service, innovation and engagement that prevents crime and earns community trust,” Wright wrote in the city's release. “His leadership ... will help implement technology, training and practices to remain one of the nation’s safest cities and one of the top law enforcement agencies in the country.”
Chapman is expected to begin his role as Chandler's police chief on April 8. Interim Chief Melissa Deanda will continue running the department until then.
Reporter Sam Kmack covers Tempe, Scottsdale and Chandler. Follow him on X @KmackSam or reach him at sam.kmack@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chandler names new police chief to fractured department
