Statesboro’s first Police Chief, J.M. Mitchell, was appointed in 1912. Prior to the creation of this position, constables were employed by the city to enforce the law and keep order.

Over the next 98 years, the Statesboro Police Department would see 19 successors into the position of Police Chief. Then, in 2010, the title of “Chief” was revisited, and the department chief was in essence replaced by the position of Director of Public Safety. Director Wendell Turner was over the Department of Public Safety, which presided over both the Police Department as well as the Fire Department in Statesboro. The Police Department was directly [managed/overseen] by the Police Commander, J.R. Holloway. In the spring of 2016, J.R. Holloway was retroactively named Chief by the mayor and city council for the time he served as Police Commander.

Most recently the Department of Public Safety was disbanded and the Police Department once again adopted the role of Police Chief. The Department was led by Deputy Chief Rob Bryan in the interim period, until Mike Broadhead was hired in April 2017 to serve as the Chief of Police. In order of succession, the Police Chiefs, Commanders, and Directors of Public Safety are as follows:

Additional Information:

The original Statesboro Police Department building was located on the corner of Siebald and Courtland Streets from approximately 1911 until 1976.

In 1976, a new Police Station was built on the corner of South College Street and West Grady Street. This building housed the Statesboro Police Department until 2006, and now continues to be used as the Statesboro Municipal Court.

In 2007, the Statesboro Police Department moved into their current, state of the art building, located on West Grady Street.

Patrolman Nathan Tremble, Jr. was the first African American to be employed by the Statesboro Police Department in the 1960’s.

J.R. Holloway is the first African American at the Statesboro Police Department to acquire the titles of Detective, Division Commander, Assistant Chief, Commander, and Chief of the Police Department.