Mayor Sarno Accepts Commissioner Barbieri’s Retirement and Appoints Deputy Chief Cheryl Clapprood as Acting Police Commissioner

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno states, “I have accepted Police Commissioner John Barbieri’s retirement today. I want to take the opportunity to commend Commissioner Barbieri on his 31 years of dedicated service and the many innovative programs that he has initiated within our Police Department. I’d also like to note that there has been a 45% reduction in overall crime in the last five years. The safety of our citizens has always been my number one priority and that will not change. I am pleased to announce that I have named Deputy Chief Cheryl Clapprood to become Acting Police Commissioner. She has served with distinction and honor for 39 years. In particular, I would like to cite her work on the C3 Community Policing effort, which has been very successful. I look at this as a new beginning for our Police Department and an opportunity to improve upon our procedures and programs. As always I am very grateful to the ‘men and women in blue,’ who put their lives on the line every day – many times in very dangerous situations to protect our citizens. In the near future I’ll be considering a search process.”