On Friday, Phoenix City Manager Jeff Barton announced that Michael Sullivan will join the Phoenix Police Department as interim Police Chief on September 12, 2022. In May of this year, current Police Chief Jeri Williams announced her intent to retire after a 33-year career in law enforcement.
Sullivan currently serves as Deputy Commissioner of the Compliance Bureau for the Baltimore Police Department (BPD).
Chief Williams will begin her retirement after a transition period to assist in onboarding interim Chief Sullivan.
The interim assignment is expected to be for approximately 12-24 months. During this time, the City of Phoenix will conduct a robust nationwide search for a permanent Police Chief. The search will include multiple opportunities for community involvement. “I am committed to providing transparent and inclusive public engagement in the search for a permanent Chief,” Barton said. “Input from our community, officers, elected officials, and labor groups will be critical to the selection process.”
Sullivan began his career in law enforcement with the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD). He was appointed Deputy Chief/Chief of Staff (second in command) in 2015. In 2019, he joined BPD as Deputy Commissioner. There, he served in the Operations Bureau as well as led BPD’s reform efforts and brought the agency into initial compliance with a number of the mandates of its Federal Consent Decree, which is a court enforceable agreement to resolve the DOJ’s findings from a 2017 investigation into BPD.