DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Delray Beach has a new police chief.
The city announced on Tuesday that 26-year veteran Javaro Sims has been promoted to the position. He had been the agency's interim chief.
ANNOUNCEMENT: We're proud to announce that Javaro Sims has been selected as the @DelrayBeachPD's next police Chief. An officer with DBPD since 1992, Sims has risen steadily through the ranks. Congrats to Chief Sims! #DelrayBeach pic.twitter.com/EbK2qHgCVz
— City of Delray Beach (@citydelraybeach) February 12, 2019
The city said Chief Sims has been with the Delray Beach Police Department since 1992, and has steadily risen through the ranks.
Born and raised in Boynton Beach and a Lake Worth High graduate, he left his job as an elementary school teacher in Miami-Dade County when he was 32 to join the ranks with the Delray Beach Police Department.
“I understand for being here for 26 years that we are somewhat disengaged from the community from a trust standpoint for my goal is to determine what I can do and make that happen,” Sims said Tuesday in his only television interview.
During an interview with WPTV in December, Sims stressed the importance of building relationships between police officers and the communities they serve.
Often times after a shooting, victims and witnesses don’t want to cooperate which hinders the investigation.
To change that, things like “Popup PDs” will continue.
“Without trust, there’s nothing and that’s the bottom line,” Sims said.
Delray, which has been referred to as the “recovery capital,” reduced overdose numbers by more than half from 2017 to 2018, with a three-pronged approach: enforcement, education and lifesaving
“Those initiatives will continue until in my mind, until we have eradicated the problem. That won’t change,” Sims said.
The city is also growing. When Sims started Atlantic Avenue wasn’t the popular drag ripe with nightlife.
To keep it bustling, he goes back to his original point: trust.
“The police department is only as strong as the community it serves,” he said.
"It’s also important to identify certain community members who can be a catalyst in establishing and maintaining those relationships," Chief Sims said.
Sims hasn’t officially taken over for outgoing chief, Jeff Goldman. It will happen once Goldman officially retires, which will happen sometime before mid-May.
Sims graduated Florida A&M in Tallahassee and Lynn University, played football in the Canadian Football League and qualified to run in the Olympic trials in 1980 and 1984.