After a months-long search for a new police chief, Boulder officials have announced that Interim Police Chief Stephen Redfearn will step into the role effective immediately.

Redfearn has been with the Boulder Police Department since 2021. He became the interim chief in January, when former Chief Maris Herold resigned suddenly.

His salary as police chief will be $200,000 per year, according to Sarah Huntley, a Boulder spokeswoman. The original job announcement said the salary range would be $181,861 to $246,048.

“I have watched Steve take on the challenges that face his profession with heart, strategic thinking and a clear understanding that policing needs to change,” City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said in a release, “and I believe he is uniquely positioned as our next chief.”

Before arriving in Boulder, Redfearn spent two decades at the Aurora Police Department in a multitude of positions.

In July 2012, he was part of the team that responded to the Century 16 Theater shooting, and according to the release, he “took a leadership role in overseeing the triage and transport of multiple victims” as well as helping apprehend the shooter, James Holmes.

Redfearn’s history with the Aurora police has also been a source of controversy. He was a captain on duty on the night of Elijah McClain’s fatal encounter with officers in August 2019. While testifying for the prosecution against the officers charged in McClain’s killing, Redfearn said although he wasn’t at the scene, he received a call about the incident, and based on information he received, he updated the dispatch code from “suspicious person” to “assault on an officer.”

Redfearn admitted to making those changes based on information from officers and without conducting his own investigation of the incident, looking at body camera footage or interviewing those who had been on-scene.

The Boulder County NAACP has called for Redfearn’s resignation, saying he should have done his own assessment of the scene before updating the call log and that his failure to do so “reeked of a cover-up.” Although city officials have said Redfearn’s actions that night were in line with standard police protocol, members of the local NAACP chapter have continued voicing concerns. In January, after Redfearn’s ascension to the interim chief role, the group asked Boulder’s civilian Police Oversight Panel to investigate his background.

According to the release, Redfearn has “reflected deeply” on the McClain case and learned from it. During his time as interim chief, he has implemented a new protocol of maintaining more detailed records of calls, including both the original call type and any updates that are later made. Those changes must be approved by supervisors.

Redfearn said in the release he is “honored” to continue to lead the department.

“We often think about our role ‘to protect and serve,’ but we also have an opportunity and an obligation to prevent harm,” Redfearn said in the release. “We’ll do this through a re-evaluation of our policies, best-practices training, a focus on employee well-being, and absolutely, a renewed commitment to engaging with community. That is what policing is about.”

Redfearn was chosen from 30 applicants for the job who came from a nationwide recruitment process. He and two other finalists participated in a community forum on Aug. 27.