Retiring from the force next week, July 1, but not actually leaving town, Statesboro Chief of Police Charles M. "Mike" Broadhead nevertheless received an appreciative sendoff from law enforcement colleagues, fellow city employees and other community members Tuesday afternoon in the Municipal Courtroom.

Broadhead arrived to be chief of the Statesboro Police Department in April 2017, after having been police chief in Riverton, Wyoming, for the previous seven years. Before that he had served for 21 years with the police department of Littleton, Colorado, a Denver suburb where he did the rounds through ranks as patrol officer, detective, patrol sergeant, traffic sergeant, detective sergeant, detective lieutenant and staff services lieutenant.

Even earlier, he served from age 18 in the U.S. Army as a military police officer. So now, at 60, he is concluding a more than 40-year law enforcement career.

Statesboro City Manager Charles W. Penny, who has announced retirement plans of his own but for Jan. 1, 2027, led off the public remarks portion of the reception. The Police Department itself and the Statesboro Fire Department, whose headquarters are nearby on Grady Street, were heavily represented during the first half of a 2–4 p.m. gathering, and Penny directed his remarks to Broadhead and the other police officers.

"In my career, I've probably worked with about 12 police chiefs, and you rank right up there at the top," Penny said. "In the time that I've been in Statesboro, you've been a very stabilizing force for our Police Department."

Then the city manager looked around at the other officers and added, "When our pay wasn't where it needed to be, you need to know the chief was fighting for you, and he would fight with me, but he never left out of the room and let y'all know that, but he was fighting for you."

The chief of police is a department head who reports to the city manager, who in turn is hired directly by the elected mayor and City Council.

Major pay upgrade

Increasing the pay of the police and other city employees requires approval by the mayor and council. For a while during 2022 and 2023, the Statesboro Police Department was short at least 17 officers, as Broadhead informed the council at the time, or had 18 vacancies at the worst point, as Penny has said. Then, with support from Penny and a consulting firm's comparative regional pay study of law enforcement agencies and similar employers, the council approved a major pay increase for public safety personnel effective in January 2024.

All other Statesboro city employee positions were included in a subsequent new pay plan and its updates. Since the beginning of January 2024, the starting salary for Statesboro's certified police officers has risen from $46,000 then to approximately $55,000 now, Penny said in an interview.

'Most difficult times'

Penny actually arrived in Statesboro about two years after Broadhead, who was hired during the tenure of a previous mayor, Jan Moore, and previous city manager, Randy Wetmore.

But Penny said he had "watched Chief in some of the most difficult times."

"I watched him when our whole country was under siege, in 2020, during the Black Lives Matter movement, and Chief was right there on the front line," Penny said. "Chief could have very easily stayed in his office and left it to the men and women of the department, but no, Chief was on the street, he was right out there with us."

In fact, Broadhead walked with marchers in at least one peaceful protest that June, six years ago, from a rally on the Bulloch County Courthouse grounds to the steps of the SPD headquarters. He and Mayor Jonathan McCollar kneeled with them in the middle of Grady Street. A few SPD officers, in ordinary uniforms and displaying no riot gear, had walked quietly among the demonstrators at the courthouse and halted traffic for the procession.

"I think he's been an excellent role model for all of the police officers in the Statesboro Police Department," said Penny.

Some of Broadhead's longer-term community interactions included discussions with the Beloved Community group when it was active a few years ago and more recently in meetings of the One Boro Commission's violence prevention subcommittee.

For youth outreach, he led in launching a Police Department-affiliated baseball team for young teens, which disbanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. But he has remained active until this Wednesday in Pizza & Chess, a program co-sponsored by Statesboro Regional Library and the Police Department. Money from the Statesboro Police Officers Foundation pays for the pizzas.

"Really it was just a question of trying to get the whole department more involved in the community, just in non-enforcement ways," Broadhead said of these efforts.

One of the retired officers who attended the reception was former Deputy Chief Robert "Rob" Bryan. He retired from the SPD in January 2024 as second-in-command after more than 26 years with the department, including nearly two years as interim chief. That was during the city government's aborted first search and then a second search that led to hiring Broadhead. They then worked together more than six and a half years.

"It was an honor to work for and with him over those years," Bryan said. "I think the agency benefited greatly from his service. … You know, when you look at crime, look at where hiring and the number of officers has gotten to and plateaued after many of the additions that were put in place over that time, if you could say there's a good time to go out on a good note, I think he's accomplished everything that could be accomplished and has left the agency in good hands for somebody in the future."

Capt. Jared Akins, regularly leader of the SPD's Operations Bureau, was recently named by Penny to serve as interim police chief while a national search for a new permanent chief is conducted. Akins said last week he is not seeking the permanent post at this time.

The rank of captain in the department is also held by Capt. Kaleb Moore of the Administrative Bureau and Capt. Andrew Samples of the Patrol Bureau.

Hiring and keeping

When Broadhead arrived in 2017, the Statesboro Police Department had 75 employees, including 63 sworn officers and 12 civilian personnel. But it was authorized for 74 sworn officers and a total workforce of 86 people.

For several years, the struggle was to reach full staffing. In their budgets, the mayor and City Council have gradually increased the authorized force to 79 officers, but Penny allowed Broadhead to "over-hire" by as many as four officers.

"We're at about 77," Broadhead said Tuesday. "Our authorized strength went to 79, and then Mr. Charles allowed us to go plus-four, and we did go plus-four for a little bit with some academy students, and now we're short a couple."

So, this seemed to confirm Bryan's observation that the number of officers has "plateaued." Penny said he still considers the department to be fully staffed and that having a few occasional vacancies can be good for budgeting and flexibility.

'A good workplace'

Before the increases a couple of years ago, Statesboro was paying officers "more than $10,000 below the area average," Broadhead said. In a brief interview, he expressed his appreciation to Penny and the council for the increases but also a view that pay was only part of what has helped retain officers.

"I think that what we tried to do, at least, is create a culture that's very healthy for people, where they could come and work and be left alone," Broadhead said. "You know, we work within a pretty rigid set of rules, but as long as guys follow the rules, they are free to go out and do their job, and so I hope that we've created that environment and that it's a good workplace where people enjoy working."

Staying in Statesboro

"We are going to stay in Statesboro," was his answer to one of the obvious retirement questions.

Broadhead and his wife, Kristen, and their younger son, Cole, a Georgia Southern student, are remaining in their current home, which is actually just outside the city limits. Older son, Jack, is now an engineer residing in Kansas City, Missouri.

"We feel like the community has really embraced us as members of the community, even though we're not from here originally," Mike Broadhead told the Statesboro Herald.

He's not making any further plans public at this time.

Asked about Akins and the other ranking officers, Broadhead said he is leaving the department in very capable hands.

Proud of them all

"But it really is the men and women of the Police Department I'm proud of," he said. "It's a very difficult time in American law enforcement, and for people to be willing to step up and do this job and do it in the way that the Constitution demands that it be done. So that's our dispatchers, our professional staff and our sworn officers just all working together to try to make this community a better place."

First, Mayor Pro Tem Shari Barr, the District 5 council member, came forward to speak to Broadhead, but Mayor McCollar showed up a little later.

"Thank you, Mike. I appreciate your service, and I appreciate knowing you were at the other end of the phone if anything came up," Barr said. "You've been a boon and a blessing to the city of Statesboro, and I appreciate you, and I'm glad you're still going to be here in the city of Statesboro."

Bulloch County Sheriff Noel Brown also turned up.

"It's been a good partnership. You've been a good friend. I appreciate the calls that you have relayed back to me wanting me to help you with, and y'all have helped us," Brown told Broadhead. "And I'm glad to have you as a citizen now. Stay registered to vote because you don't ever know — I might (decide to run again)."

That last clause was drowned out by laughter from others, but Brown confirmed afterward that this was what he meant. He also said he has especially appreciated Broadhead as "a big believer in our Constitution in Georgia, and the Constitution of the United States, and that's what we're all about, protecting people's rights and enforcing the laws."

The retiring chief "exemplifies the very character, the principles" of the city of Statesboro as an organization, McCollar said.

"We want to be an organization of good people doing good things for a great community," the mayor said, "and that doesn't mean that we are perfect, but we have the character to be a little bit better every single day."