Montpelier Police Chief Brian Peete, June 2020. Photo by Carla Occaso.
After just over two years as Montpelier’s Police Chief, Brian Peete is stepping down. He has accepted a position as the new director for the Riley County Police Department in Kansas and plans to end his role in Montpelier on Dec. 31. The Riley County Law Board formally named Peete as their new Director on Tuesday, Nov. 1.
According to a press release from Montpelier city manager Bill Fraser, Peete has been with the Montpelier Police Department since July 1, 2020.
“He assumed command during the worst of the COVID pandemic and in the immediate aftermath of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis which had a significant impact on law enforcement professionals,” Fraser wrote.
Peete’s letter of resignation said, “This was a very tough decision of which my family and I truly languished over. The City’s leadership team has been the best I’ve ever worked with, the City Council has been supportive of both myself and the department. The women and men of the Montpelier Police Department are who made this choice especially conflicting and difficult: they are the pinnacle of professionalism and are the epitome of public service.”
Peete, a Chicago native, was selected to run the Montpelier Police Department in 2020 from a field of 19 candidates after review by Fraser, city staff, police officials, and a panel of six outside stakeholders. Before coming to Montpelier, the 46-year-old former U.S. Air Force captain was chief of police in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
“Chief Peete has made excellent contributions to the city and its police department which will carry forward into the future. We are disappointed to be losing him as Chief but wish him the very best in his new community,” Fraser said, adding that the city’s process for finding Peete’s replacement has not yet been determined.
