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Home > Leadership > Mayor > Archive Press Releases > 2006 Archives > February 2006 > Mayor Brown Announces Police Department Appointments

Mayor Brown Announces Police Department Appointments


Source/Contact
Office of the Mayor
Peter K. Culter
Director of Communications
716-851-4841

Veteran Law Enforcement Professionals Selected for Department's Top Posts

BUFFALO – Selecting three individuals possessing a combined seventy-seven years of experience in the Buffalo Police Department, Mayor Byron Brown today announced his appointments for the three top leadership positions of the Buffalo Police Department.

H. McCarthy Gipson has been appointed Commissioner; he will be joined by Daniel Derenda, Byron Lockwood in the Department's two Deputy Commissioner positions, as well as Dennis J. Richards as Chief of Detectives.

Mayor Brown also appointed the following Chiefs: Jim Shea (A District), Donna Berry (B District), Marsha Scott (C District) and Art Salas (D District).

"The members of my Transition Team reviewed and interviewed an array of highly qualified candidates for these leadership positions in the Police Department," stated Mayor Brown. "As with earlier Cabinet-level appointments, the Transition Team interviewed candidates from within and outside Buffalo. These individuals, recommended strongly by the Transition Team's Public Safety sub-committee, will bring their impressive and extensive law enforcement experience to the Buffalo Police Department."

A thirty-five year law enforcement veteran, H. McCarthy Gipson has served in both the Buffalo Police Department and the Erie County Sheriff's Office. Recently, he has served as Superintendent of the Erie County Holding Center, later being promoted to Chief Deputy, where he participated in the command of approximately 1,000 law enforcement employees in Erie County.

Chief Deputy Sheriff Gipson began his law enforcement career with the Buffalo Police Department in 1971. He rose through every leadership position within the Department until he retired as a Captain in 1998. His experience includes Department Lieutenant, where supervised police officers and detectives; Precinct Commander, managing and directing daily operations of a Patrol Precinct; head of the Professional Standards Division, directing, managing and investigating acts of misconduct or malfeasance by police employees; and the Staff Inspections Unit, where he implemented, directed and administered the department's internal drug testing program, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and the Chaplaincy Program.

He holds a wide variety of specialized training and certifications, including: Municipal Police Training Council, New York State Certified Police Instructor; Division of Criminal Justice Services, Law Enforcement Executive Development Seminar; National Institute of Corrections, Executive Excellence Program; and National Sheriff's Association, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Executive Level Training.

An adjunct faculty member at Hilbert College, Chief Deputy Sheriff Gipson teaches courses in corrections and other criminal justice subjects. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Crime Stoppers of Western New York, the Hospice and Palliative Care Center, the St. Augustine Center, the Advisory Board of the Hilbert College Institute for Law and Justice, and the National Board of Directors of the American Jail Association.

With 20 years in the Buffalo Police Department, Daniel Derenda possesses vast law enforcement experience with proven skills in supervision, investigation and patrol. He began his law enforcement career in the Department as a uniformed police officer and is currently a Detective Sergeant in the Department's Homicide Squad. During his career, he has been awarded several times the Mayor's Award of Merit, the Department's Office of the Month award and has twice received the detective Sergeant and Detective Association's Distinguished Service Award.

Byron Lockwood has 22 years of service to the citizens of Buffalo in the Police Department. Beginning as a Patrol Officer at Precinct 4, he is now a Detective Sergeant supervising detectives in C District. He is responsible for site and crime scene investigation, case review and assignment, statistical evaluation, investigations and interrogation, budget management and oversight of internal computer applications. His training and certification activities include: the Erie County Law Enforcement Training, Executive Development Seminar; the Erie County Law Enforcement Training Academy, Ploice Supervision School; Critical Incident Stress Management Certification, Peer Counselor; and the University at Buffalo School of Management's Leadership Development Program.

The Commissioner's salary is $105,824; the two Deputy Commissioners will earn $92,411; and the Chief of Detectives salary is $84,771.