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WEST VALLEY CITY — The police chief of Utah's second-largest city is retiring after four years on the job — a move city officials said was anticipated.
Lee Russo was tasked with restoring public trust after the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Danielle Willard in 2012. And he was successful, West Valley City Manager Wayne Pyle said at a Friday news conference.
"I guess I would say he was an overachiever, he's done what he wanted to do, and he just wanted to be able to move on to his next challenge," Pyle said.
Russo retires next Friday. Deputy Chief Colleen Nolen will take over as interim chief as the department begins searching for a full-time replacement.
Russo wasn't available to comment because he was on vacation for the holiday weekend, city officials said.
The chief, who previously led a department in Kentucky, originally signed a contract to stay in West Valley City for five years, but it was understood he would leave once he met goals he and city managers had identified when he took the job in 2013, Pyle said.
Pyle said Russo's retirement was "not precipitated by anything and not earlier than planned. We've been talking about this for a while and this really just happens to be the time we've finished our conversations and discussions about how to move forward."
Russo said in a statement his work at the city has "been some of the proudest moments of my career. We have accomplished so much together."
He said the department started on a better course during his four years on the job, by working to address a backlog in rape kits that had yet to be tested for DNA, overhauling protocol for interviewing sexual assault victims, using body cameras and meeting with city residents.
Under his tenure, the department became the state's only police force to be nationally accredited when it was approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies in May.
"Now that our city leaders and I have accomplished our goals for this police department, I feel confident that the time is right to go out and find that new opportunity," he said.
His time in West Valley wasn't without difficulty.
Chief Lee Russo announces his retirement. Please join us in wishing him the best! Read his full statement here: https://t.co/8q1rKKS5Gt
— WVC Police (@WVCPD) September 1, 2017
Last year, Russo and the department grappled with the death of West Valley officer Cody Brotherson, killed when he was hit by three teens fleeing police in a car on Nov. 6, 2016.
On Friday, his mother, Jenny Brotherson, said Russo came to her house and got down on one knee to tell her that her son had died. He continues to check on the family, she said.
"It's one of the things I remember about that day because he wasn't standing above me, he was straight there," she said."I do think West Valley is going to be very, very sad that he's leaving.
He inherited the force in the wake of the death of Willard, a 21-year-old killed in an undercover drug operation. The investigation of her death revealed officers in the narcotics unit kept as trophies money and other items uncovered in drug busts.
Russo, who is originally from Delaware and worked for 20 years in Maryland's Baltimore County Sheriff's Office, thanked people who live in West Valley. He said he's leaving so he and his wife can be with his children who live out of state.
"I thought he did a great job," Pyle said, adding that the department will keep the positive momentum and continue to recruit to fill open positions.
He said it could take six months to find a new chief if a national search is launched, and could take less time if the city decides to pick locally.
