News

By Jane Smith

When Javaro Sims becomes Delray Beach police chief in May, he will be the city’s first black police chief.
City Manager Mark Lauzier announced his decision at the Feb. 12 City Commission workshop where fellow officers packed the first three rows of the chambers.
“After an in-depth process in which Sims and Assistant Chief Maria Olsen tried out for the police chief’s job, I offered the job to Sims,” Lauzier said. “He has the support of the department, the command staff and the community.”
According to the latest census estimates, minorities accounted for 37.9 percent of the population in Delray Beach, 36.5 percent in Boynton Beach and 25 percent in Palm Beach County. Boynton Beach also recently named a black police chief.
In January, Lauzier set up a special phone line for residents and city employees to provide input on the police chief selection. He said he would take the calls and listen to the voicemails.
The current chief, Jeff Goldman, became acting assistant city manager in August, allowing for Olsen and Sims to spend some time in the chief’s chair. Goldman returned to the chief’s position on Feb. 11. He will retire in May and then Sims will become chief.
Lauzier said he was impressed with Sims’ “one-community philosophy” that states when one neighborhood is hurting, the whole city is affected.
Deputy Vice Mayor Shirley Johnson, who lives in the Northwest neighborhood, was pleased that the announcement came during Black History Month.
Sims, 58, was hired by the department in 1992 after spending four years as a teacher. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Florida A&M University and a master’s in criminal justice from Lynn University.
As Sims rose through the ranks in the Police Department, he supervised the Community Policing Unit, the Street-level Narcotics Unit, the West Atlantic Avenue Task Force, the Community Response Division, the Criminal Investigations Division, the Support Services Division, the Community Patrol Division and, as assistant chief, the Special Services Bureau.
He graduated from the FBI National Academy in June 2014.
Olsen, 55, was hired by the department in 2014, following her retirement after 32 years with the West Palm Beach Police Department.
She will remain assistant police chief in Delray Beach.