Chief Adams to Stay in University Park, Hopefully For Good
It looks like University Park’s police chief will be sticking around after all.
Gary Adams, who has led the University Park Police Department for a decade, was one of six finalists for the top cop job in Pueblo, Colo. That is, until Pueblo city manager Jerry Pacheco decided to suspend the city’s selection process until a study evaluating the police department’s internal practices can be completed.
“The police chief is a critical leadership position,” Pacheco said in a press release Monday, “and I believe halting the recruitment process in order to focus on the identification of department issues, needs, and challenges will enhance our understanding of exactly what skill sets and competencies we need in our next police chief.”
Pacheco said all finalists are welcome to apply again once the study is complete. As for how long the study could take, Pacheco said the timeline is “unknown at this point,” and that city staff “are working on the plan as we speak.”
For Adams, going through the rigmarole of applying and interviewing once was enough for him.
“I just don’t want to go through the process again,” Adams said Wednesday. “I’m just not interested in moving to another department anymore.”
A few University Park residents did ask him to stay with the city, but for Adams and his wife, the decision to not pursue the job in Pueblo — or anywhere else for that matter — was a personal one.
“We kind of look at it as something that wasn’t meant to be,” Adams said. “I got restless, and I thought I wanted a change, but then I thought about it, and well, maybe I don’t want a change.”
Adams said he hopes to stay with the department until he decides to retire. City manager Bob Livingston and Mayor Dick Davis said they will happily take Adams up on that.
“I assume that [Chief Adams] will be here for another five or 10 years, or until he does decide to retire,” Livingston said Wednesday. “He’s done such a great job with the department.”
Davis added: “He’s an excellent leader. Personally, and I think I speak for the City Council and staff, we’re very pleased.”
Excellent news for UP.