Police Chief Greer to retire at end of 2020

Philadelphia Police Chief Julian Greer will retire at the end of the month, it was announced during last Tuesday’s meeting of the Mayor and Board of Alderman.

Greer, who has been police chief since August 2019, has 28 years of service with the city. He started as a patrolman and worked his way up the ranks. He was not at the board meeting where Mayor James A. Young made the announcement.

“It was time to go,” Greer said Wednesday morning. “I have been thinking about it for a while. I have my years in and it’s time to move on to different things.”

Greer, 54, served the department as assistant chief for 10 years. He worked under six different police chiefs.

“I have served in just about every capacity,” Greer said. “I started in patrol. I worked as a patrolman, sergeant, narcotics investigation, criminal investigations, as captain over patrol, SWAT team commander and SWAT team sniper and eventually assistant chief.”

Greer, who is originally from Louisville, said he has no plans for the immediate future.

“I am grateful to the city of Philadelphia for the way I have been treated since I came here,” Greer said. “I had opportunities to leave and go other places. But due to the way I was treated and the environment here, this is where I spent my entire law enforcement career.

“I am very appreciative for the way that the board and mayor have treated me. They have been very good in getting me what I needed for my guys. We have promoted several people over the last year and purchased five new vehicles for the department. They added money in the budget to promote officers to the rank they needed to be and didn’t argue one bit.”

Greer’s last official day is Dec. 31.