Apache Junction Police Chief Named to State Board
[NEWS RELEASE] Apache Junction Police Chief Thomas E. Kelly has been named by Gov. Doug Ducey to the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board.
“I am honored and humbled to have been selected to this esteemed board and represent our community in such an important part of our law enforcement system,” said Kelly, who has been with the Apache Junction police for 12 years, the last six as chief. “This panel is critical in ensuring the integrity of our police officers and sheriff’s deputies while affording them the most up to date law enforcement training.”
The 13-member board maintains standards of integrity, competence and professionalism for peace officers and correctional officers in Arizona. It initially helped in providing curriculum and standards for all certified law enforcement training facilities but now also oversees the Peace Officer Training Fund, approves a state correctional officer training curriculum and establishes minimum standards for state correctional officers.
The board includes police chiefs, county sheriffs, the state attorney general, the directors of the Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Arizona Department of Corrections and two public members.
“One of the satisfactions of holding office is the opportunity to recognize outstanding citizens by naming them to positions of leadership within our state government,” said Ducey in his Feb. 27 nomination of Kelly to the state board.
Kelly, who begins his three-year term this month, has been with the Apache Junction police force since 2006, after 23 years with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, retiring as Agent in Charge. He was a police officer in Chicago for 11 years previous to his time with the federal agency. In 2014, Kelly was appointed to the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program National Policy Advisory Board and to the Arizona Substance Abuse Partnership.
The board provides services to 163 law enforcement agencies encompassing over 14,500 sworn peace officers, 6,500 correctional officers and 13 police training academies.
