On Thursday, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry announced the replacement of outgoing police chief Garry Hamilton. Hamilton will begin leading the department’s community relations division on August 1 and will be succeeded by assistant police chief Steve Reed.
Reed has been a member of the Fort Wayne Police Department since 1993. He says he aims to bring residents, neighborhoods and businesses together with law enforcement to create an open and innovative approach to public safety.
Reed also has some ideas for how to combat the recent string of youth violence in Fort Wayne.
“We’ve said it repeatedly: we need the community’s help,” said Reed. “When we have cooperation, we can solve these crimes. To help with that, we want to focus on our uniformed operations division, get more uniformed officers out there so we can hopefully prevent more crime and respond more quickly to others.”
Hamilton says Reed was a top recommendation to be his replacement, and spoke of him as a longtime friend.
“As a police chief, you’re not going to please everyone, and I get that,” Hamilton said. “But my concern is the officer’s safety and community need. And I think Chief Reed is going to continue that philosophy.”
Priorities under Reed’s leadership include expanding the use of crime analysis for more effective responses, improving community relations, and expanding website and social media efforts.
