Former Springs Police Chief Named Interim Chief In Florida

Former Colorado Springs Police Chief, Richard Myers, has been named Interim Police Chief in Sanford, Florida — the city at the heart of the Trayvon Martin case.

For the past month, the City of Sanford’s Police Department has been led by Captain Darren Scott, who has served as acting chief since Police Chief Bill Lee temporarily stepped aside amid the controversy surrounding the Trayvon Martin Case. Chief Lee will remain on paid administrative leave.

“We Thank Captain Scott for his service to the City during these tumultuous times. He has been an exemplary leader,” said Sanford City manager Norton Bonaparte, Jr. “The City welcomes the leadership of Interim Chief Myers.”

Myers left Colorado Springs in October, saying that Mayor Bach wanted a “change of direction.”

Interim Chief Myers will begin leading the Sanford Police Department at the end of this week.

Late Tuesday afternoon Myers provided KRDO NewsChannel 13 the following statement regarding accepting the interim chief position in Sanford:

“It was an honor to be invited to interview with the City Manager, and as the announced Interim Chief, I am humbled to be asked to assume this challenge. Many of my close colleagues have expressed concerns about taking this on, but I feel this is a calling and I am confident that I can help make a positive difference.

I have much to learn?about the community of Sanford, the Sanford Police Department, and certainly the Trayvon Martin homicide case. I come to Sanford with an open mind and ready to listen, and not with a long list of preconceived assumptions.

Before I can comment on anything beyond my eagerness to get to work, I truly need to get to Sanford and better understand the needs of the community, the police and the city government. Whenever a community goes through a crisis, it has to recover and heal, and that takes both time and energy. I hope to provide some of the energy needed to bring the community together.

I look forward to sitting down with both officers in the Police Department and with community members to better understand all their concerns. I recognize that folks in Sanford don’t know me and I hope we can quickly establish effective lines of communication so that I may learn about the hopes and expectations of both police officers and community members. I may be an interim police chief but I intend on being an active leader, and there will be nothing interim about the need to move quickly to better understand the issues that the department and the community is facing.”