After a nationwide search, newly appointed Deputy Chief Dianne Bernhard has settled into the role of second-in-command of the Columbia Police Department.
“We will work together to plan for the future and execute the current operations of the police department,” Bernhard said. “We will expect excellence. We will involve the community in their police department.”
The deputy chief position has been open since June 2012, when Steve Monticelli took a chief of police position in Virginia. Columbia Police Chief Ken Burton selected three internal finalists for the position in early October and announced Bernhard’s promotion on Oct. 23.
The deputy chief supervises the three operational bureaus: Patrol, Operations Support and Administrative Support.
“I will approach this position in a similar way I have approached previous positions,” Bernhard said. “I will facilitate a team-based approach to policing.”
Bernhard was hired in 1992 as a patrol officer and was promoted to sergeant in 1997. As a sergeant she supervised patrol officers, the Community Action Team and school resource officers and investigations.
“The Community Action Team was a team in our police department dedicated to the community policy philosophy,” Bernhard said. “We worked directly with the community on problem areas and addresses. The team no longer exists because the community policing philosophy is now a department-wide philosophy and is expected from all of our officers, not just a specialized team.”
In 2006, Bernhard completed a master’s degree in public administration from MU.
Bernhard was promoted to patrol lieutenant in 2007. In 2009, she was promoted to captain of the Patrol Bureau, which is the largest part of the department and is responsible for providing the primary response to citizen’s calls for service. She has led the Administrative Support Bureau for the past two years, where she was in charge of financial planning, internal affairs and fleet operations.
She has completed Northwestern University’s School of Police Staff and Command seminar, which prepares law enforcement managers for senior positions. Bernhard also completed Boston University’s Senior Management Institute for Police seminar, which provides senior police executives intensive training in the latest management concepts and practices used in business and government.
Bernhard is not the only newly promoted member of CPD. Public Relations Unit Sgt. Jill Schlude was promoted to the rank of captain. Schlude was hired in 2005 as a patrol officer and worked the midnight shift downtown and in East Campus, according to a department news release. She was also a member of the Forensic Evidence Team and a patrol rifle operator.
Schlude received her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration from Columbia College in 2007. She said she decided to pursue this degree because she was sure she wanted to remain in law enforcement, and these studies supported her career.
In 2009, Schlude received the Molly Thomas-Bowden Officer of the Year Award. The award is named after a Columbia police officer who succumbed to gunshot wounds after she was shot during a traffic stop in 2005. Schlude said she is grateful to be honored by her peers.
“I think it is very humbling and special because it was the first year that the award was given, and of course because it was named after Molly,” Schlude said.
Schlude was chosen as the public information officer in 2010 and was promoted in 2011 to sergeant of the Public Relations Unit. As head of the unit, Schlude said she worked to be more responsive and transparent with the media, as well as hosting public speaking events and crime prevention activities.
“You learn things and develop skills over time,” Schlude said. “Sometimes I think it’s helpful that people realize that and also that we are really committed to this idea of mutual respect. People should obviously respect the police because they have authority that’s given to them by the public to enforce the laws, but we should respect everybody we deal with equally. Equal respect is what our goal is.”
