Commerce City swears in new police chief following nationwide search

Commerce city officially has a new police chief. Darrel Guadnola was sworn in by the city's mayor Monday afternoon, after a nationwide search.  

Guadnola comes to Commerce City from Wheat Ridge, where he was a division chief. He is a lifelong Coloradan and has nearly 30 years of experience in law enforcement.  

CBS Colorado asked Guadnola about his goals for the department.  

"Planning for the future," Guadnola said, "the population growth that is expected in Commerce City in the next 12 years is substantial. 26% is the current projection. Planning for that and planning to be able to provide public safety services for that sort of demographic increase will be huge."         

Guadnola takes the place of interim chief Richard W. Myers who served for 7 months following the retirement of Chief Clint Nichols. An independent investigation found Nichols was "not truthful" about a traffic stop in Utah where he refused to let officers search his vehicle.  

Guadnola says he wants to start his time in Commerce City with a listening tour to learn more about what the community needs.