DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — With 30 years in law enforcement, Kamran Afzal will step into Dayton’s top cop slot on Monday, Dec. 20.
Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein appointed Afzal as the new chief of police for the Dayton Police Department. Chief Afzal most recently served as police chief in Hopewell, Virginia. He began his law enforcement career with the U.S. Capitol Police in 1991, and later joined the Arlington County Police Department in 1993 where he served as a patrol officer and command staff member. He also served as chief of police for the Durango Police Department from April 2017 to December 2018.
His primary goals in Dayton include getting to know the officers he’ll be leading and the community he’ll be serving. “I talked to a lot of people who were very pleased with Dayton, and others who were not, so I want to understand why are some people are pleased and why some people are not pleased,” he said.
He’s also working to fully implement local police reforms recommended by working groups following the death of George Floyd. In April, the groups released over 140 new recommendations to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and Dayton citizens.
“There’s nothing in there that was like ‘oh my God I can’t believe they’re asking us to do that,'” he said. “There seems to be a belief that these things are being done at us and not with us. I don’t think there are any police officers who doesn’t believe we should be transparent, open to the public, and serve our public.”
Chief Afzal said building relationships is also a priority. He plans on having an open-door policy for both the department and the community.
“If you establish a relationship with people, you’ll have trust with the community members and the department. If you have trust, maybe you won’t have a bunch of police reforms being thrown at you,” he said.