By Angel Ford, Contributing Writer
Lance Arnold was officially sworn in Tuesday at Broken Arrow’s new police chief, becoming the 10th top cop in the history of the city.
Arnold, who has more than 3 decades of experience in law enforcement, takes the reins after the the retirement of Brandon Berryhill last October. He served with the Norman Police Department for more than 20 years and recently was police chief and assistant city manager in Weatherford, Texas, a city 20 miles west of Fort Worth.
Arnold said he felt “on top of the world” after being sworn in, as he’ll now take command of a department with more than 100 officers sworn to protect a population of 120,000 residents spread out over 62 square miles.
“I couldn’t be happier to be part of such a wonderful community that it is in one the greatest states,” said Arnold. “I missed it, honestly. Twenty years of being in Norman then I had the opportunity to go to Texas. I know that people talk a lot about Texas, but I just wanted to come back to be here and the opportunities that are here.”
After being sworn in, Arnold committed to upholding Broken Arrow Police Department’s core values as he spoke to community members and those in attendance.
“Your expectations are high and, quite frankly, they should be,” said Arnold. “What I can promise you is that they can never be as high as the expectations we put on ourselves at BAPD.”
Arnold takes over after the BAPD took some high profile hits last year with several officers charged with various crimes who resigned, retired or were terminated. In a city where the police department is widely supported, Arnold described these incidents as one-offs.
“There is no doubt they were high profile incidents, and they happen in every organization,” Arnold said. “They just happened to have a little bit higher frequency in a really small period of time. But that’s not an indication of what this department’s about.
“This department is full of people who have the highest integrity, and they hold each other accountable on a daily basis. So really it’s just more of that same type of behavior of getting the people out that don’t need to be here.”
Due to these incidents, he plans to move forward with a recommitment, without compromise, to the department’s core values of accountability and integrity, said Arnold.
Broken Arrow City Manager Michael Spurgeon hired the new police chief with the help of a committee consisting of two assistant city managers, the Deputy Chief of Police, Fraternal Order of Police president, Human Resources director and Chief of Bixby Police Todd Blish. Other interviews were done by chaplains, council members and several directors who work with police every day.
“All that feedback came to me,” said Spurgeon. “Based on that, and meeting with the committee, it was close, very close, but in the end Lance was the best person for the position.”
Arnold stood above the rest due to his ability to communicate and his prior experience in law enforcement, as well as an assistant city manager, said Spurgeon – adding that Arnold understands the challenges of implementing public policy not only from a police chief’s perspective but also from an administrative point of view.
“We wanted someone who was going to be able to communicate the city’s vision, the department’s vision, where we are at with that vision and what’s going on with the operations,” said Spurgeon.
“The second thing we heard from him was that he’ll be out amongst the area departments finding out what was going on, asking questions, talking to people and engaging with them, getting temperature checks on what is happening with them and their departments.”
Arnold said that as he begins his new job he will be meeting with as many community members, partners, and stakeholders as possible. His next step will be setting up the vision and strategic plan for the department.
“The community has been so welcoming to me, even when they didn’t know who I am,” Arnold said. “I want them to be who they are. I’m going to be who I am, and I want them to be authentic and who they are. Let’s get those relationships going.”
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