Jim Fadenrecht, chief of the CU-Boulder Police department since 1991 and a 30-year veteran of the department, has announced his retirement effective Jan. 31, 2005.
In a memo to Paul Tabolt, vice chancellor for administration, Fadenrecht said, "My employment at CU has now spanned over three decades and I've decided it's time to transition into another phase of life." Fadenrecht praised the public safety staff, which he called "a committed and talented work force" and said the announcement was made "with mixed emotions."
"I am proud of the staff of the public safety department and the degree to which the staff take their jobs seriously and have developed themselves to become highly effective, competent and service-oriented," he said.
Vice Chancellor Tabolt said, "Jim has played a pivotal role in the safety and welfare of all who live, work and study on the Boulder campus. We have benefited from his steady public safety influence on the campus and his commitment to resolving issues," Tabolt said. "Fadenrecht has served the university well. We will celebrate his retirement with him, but wish we could keep him longer."
A search committee will be assembled in August to begin the process of conducting a national search for the university's police chief. In addition to heading the 67-member CU Police Department, Fadenrecht oversees the office of Parking and Transportation Services and Environmental Health and Safety. Those divisions have 84 and 23 staff employees respectively, as well as approximately 200 part-time student and hourly employees.
Fadenrecht, who joined the force in 1974 as a student hourly employee and rose through the ranks, said he is proud to have led the department in several key programs prior to and during his time as chief of police. His development of a "community policing philosophy" among a broad spectrum of campus student groups was a key accomplishment that involved many campus police officers coordinating with students on campus safety, residence hall behavior and other issues. "Through this process, our officers have learned in crisis management situations how to be responsive but also respectful of differing viewpoints and people's constitutional rights," he said.
The entire department "is committed to promoting positive community and police relations, that really is the heart of what we do," Fadenrecht said.
Fadenrecht's successful work with other departmental employees on the need for an improved police facility resulted in the construction in 1991 of the Police and Parking Services Center east of the engineering college on Regent Drive. "Prior to that we had occupied a series of basements in Wardenburg, 914 Broadway and the Armory Building on University Avenue," Fadenrecht said.
While captain, Fadenrecht worked on the department's first accreditation in 1990 by the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police. The CU Police department has just completed the process for re-accreditation.
Fadenrecht completed the Colorado Law Enforcement Training Academy program in 1976 and earned his master's degree in public administration the same year from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He earned his Law Enforcement Executive Certificate from the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police in 1992 and his bachelor's degree in recreation from CU-Boulder in 1973.
Fadenrecht is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the International Association of College Law Enforcement Administrators, and has published in that organization's journal, the Campus Law Enforcement Journal.