City of Delaware Chief of Police Bruce Pijanowski will be retiring from the police department after 34 years in order to take a position as the assistant to the superintendent of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The City of Delaware announced the retirement in a release Wednesday. Pijanowski’s last day with the department will be May 20.
“For more than 30 years, this department has been my home, every day a new challenge,” Pijanowski, 56, said in the release. “As a police officer you get to make a difference every day; Nothing beats that kind of satisfaction, but I’m looking forward to the next chapter.”
Pijanowski has been with the City of Delaware Police Department since April 1988 and has been the chief of police since 2012. The city reported Pijanowski has served as a patrol officer, sergeant, detective sergeant, captain, assistant chief and interim chief during his career in Delaware.
Pijanowski is a graduate of Bowling Green State University, the FBI National Academy, the Police Executive Leadership College, and he has served on the executive committee of the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police since 2016.
“Bruce has dedicated his life to Delaware public service and public safety, and the department he runs today is recognized as one of the best anywhere,” City Manager Tom Homan said in the release. “His commitment to the department and our community is unmatched.”
According to the city, Homan will appoint an interim chief and a search will begin for the next chief to lead the department of approximately 55 sworn officers and a budget of nearly $12 million.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation serves as the state’s crime lab and criminal-records keeper and offers round-the-clock expert and investigative services to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, the city said Wednesday.
“Chief Pijanowski brings a passion for law enforcement that will help us continue to raise the level of work being done at BCI – which is already among the best in the nation,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “He understands that BCI’s job is to help local law enforcement, and his background as a hands-on chief gives him front-row perspective into what’s needed on the streets of Ohio.”
