Boulder’s police chief finalists faced questions on community safety, officer accountability, approaches to addressing homelessness and more during a forum on Tuesday, Aug. 27. Rebuilding community trust and the need for innovative policing strategies dominated the conversation.
Held in the city council chambers, the event allowed residents to engage directly with the candidates, each of whom shared their vision for leading the Boulder Police Department. The final decision on who will head the department now lies with City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde.
Last week, the city announced its three finalists for the chief position: Interim Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn; Leonard Redhorse III, deputy police chief for the Navajo Police Department; and Josh Wallace, a commander with the Chicago Police Department.
The incoming police chief will oversee a department budget of about $43 million and lead 280 full-time employees, including 190 sworn officers. According to a spokeswoman, the department currently has 14 officer vacancies. The new chief will succeed Maris Herold, Boulder’s first female police chief, who was hired in April 2020 on the eve of nationwide protests for police reform and resigned in January 2024 to take a new role as an adviser with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab.
The Boulder Police Department addresses a broad range of public safety challenges, from managing rising rates of reports of violent crimes to responding to climate change-induced fires and floods. The department also enforces traffic laws as the city works to eliminate traffic fatalities, particularly among vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians.
Over the course of an hour and a half, the candidates answered questions on broad topics, including community engagement, transparency, accountability and racial bias in policing. (Watch the full forum here.) Because the questions were broad and time was limited, the answers were also largely general, making it difficult to discern the differences in their specific policing strategies.
Some referenced 2020 and the killing of George Floyd as a turning point in policing, one that personally affected them and their approach to the profession. The murder sparked a nationwide racial reckoning.
“I look at everything that’s happened since 2020 and the murder of George Floyd, and we’re talking about community goals,” Redfearn said. “The community [in Boulder] has made it loud and clear that the way we’ve historically done things isn’t working.”
“Community engagement is truly how a police department is going to succeed or fail,” Redfearn added. “We’ve learned, again, loud and clear, that the way we’ve been doing things historically in this profession, especially when it comes to historically excluded populations, is not working.”
Reflecting on the impact of 2020, Wallace noted, “That is where the rubber meets the road when it came to understanding and helping other officers who are not African American understand what took place, why [Floyd’s killing] has affected the African American community the way it did, and what we are going to do about it.”
Wallace explained that during roll calls, he had to “explain the hurt, the anger, and how, unless there’s true reform, you’re going to experience this every day that you go out on the street.”
When discussing the evolution of policing, Redhorse said, “We can do better. We can create a balance between the power that exists between law enforcement authorities and the community that they serve.” Redhorse added, “We don’t need uniformed police officers to address all our harms.”
On homelessness, the candidates discussed how ticketing people who cannot pay fines exacerbates the cycle of homelessness and criminalization. All three emphasized the importance of collaborative services with other city departments and nonprofit organizations.
“There are going to be those individuals that say, ‘No, I decline your services,'” Redhorse said. “But the vast majority, according to the best studies out there, are embracing that respective change.”
Wallace highlighted the need for a humanistic approach: “With the police department and other city departments collaborating, there really has to be a very humanistic approach to how we do it. You can throw all the resources you want at the unhoused issue. However, if they’re not willing to take the resources, what’s our next option? Unfortunately, a lot of it comes down to [police] enforcement, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the only option. I think if officers know their community and the unhoused within it, that’s where the dialogue should take place. What can we offer you? How can we offer it to you? What do you need? Then we can get with other city agencies and discuss, ‘Is this possible?'”
Redfearn shared a related experience: “I had an officer ask me, ‘I’ve written 60 tickets to a guy in a year. What is writing a 61st ticket going to do? Why should I do that?’ And I said, ‘That’s a great question.’ One of the things we implemented shortly thereafter was our high-utilizer program, which was born in the police department because we knew our officers were being put in impossible situations.”
A “high-utilizers” program seeks to serve and even house people who are regularly ticketed or treated at Boulder Community Health Hospital.
“Writing tickets and hauling someone to jail is not going to solve that long term,” Redfearn said.
All candidates stressed the need for police accountability, better training and community engagement to address racial bias and build trust.
This leadership transition in Boulder comes as the department continues to implement its “reimagining policing” initiative, which focuses on crime prevention by targeting hotspots —areas with high volumes of law enforcement calls — among other goals.
Another key responsibility for the new chief will be working with the recently revamped Police Oversight Panel, an 11-member volunteer group that reviews investigations into officer misconduct. The panel was established in 2020 after a city officer drew a gun on an unarmed Black college student who was picking up trash outside his home.
Interim Chief Redfearn has held the police chief position since January 2024 following Herold’s resignation to join the U.S. Department of Justice.
Redfearn, who served with the Aurora Police Department for 22 years, has both supporters and critics. His involvement in the case against officers charged with the 2019 death of Elijah McClain — a 23-year-old Black man who died after being forcibly arrested and given a powerful sedative in Aurora — has sparked controversy. Some members of the NAACP Boulder County have called for his resignation due to his ties to the Aurora Police Department, which has faced allegations of biased policing and excessive force. However, other community members have dismissed these concerns, noting that Redfearn testified against his former colleagues after leaving Aurora. Redfearn, who is gay, has said he understands “what it feels like to be treated differently” but acknowledges that he does not know what it is like to be a person of color.
Deputy Chief Redhorse has served with the Navajo Police Department, the largest tribal law enforcement agency in the U.S., for 18 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Eastern New Mexico University and a Master of Arts in criminal justice from Arizona State University, according to the city.
Commander Wallace has served with the Chicago Police Department for 25 years and is currently assigned to the Criminal Network Group, which oversees gang and drug operations. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Wallace has been named in several lawsuits, including one involving use of force, and has faced dozens of complaints, though none have been sustained. He holds a bachelor’s degree in law enforcement management from Calumet College of St. Joseph and is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command.
The city received 30 applications for the position and plans to conduct final interviews later this week.
Redhorse, hands down.
Redfearn hands down. But we shall see how it shakes out.
Yep. Ya either get it or you don’t. Many can talk the talk when they need to but few can manage to walk the talk.