Job of Police Chief Goes to Tennessee Official

Jerry A. Oliver, director of the Office of Drug Policy in Memphis, Tenn., was named Thursday as the new police chief of Pasadena, the first time in 50 years that the city has a chief from outside the department.

Oliver, 44, will receive $100,000 annually to oversee the department’s $24-million operating budget and its 377 employees, including 220 sworn officers. He was selected from among 40 applicants to succeed retiring Police Chief Bruce Philpott, a veteran of 28 years on the Pasadena force and chief for the last 21 months.

Before taking the Memphis job last year, Oliver was assistant police chief in Phoenix, where he began his law enforcement career in 1970 as a foot patrol officer. He has a master’s degree in public finance and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Arizona State University in Tempe.