Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar to be Pima County Deputy Administrator
Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher has hired Tucson Police Chief Chad Kasmar to serve as deputy county administrator.
Kasmar has served as TPD Chief since 2021 and has spent his entire laudable law enforcement career in TPD, joining the force in 2000. He is retiring after 25 years of dedicated service to the city and will start Mar.1 with the county. Deputy Chief Monica Prieto will succeed him at TPD.
“He’s an outstanding leader and exceptional manager,” Lesher said of her reasons for hiring Kasmar, who will fill the deputy administrator vacancy created when Dr. Francisco Garcia stepped down from the position in December 2024. “He has deep roots in Tucson, born and raised. He knows this community, what the issues are, what its strengths are, and how to use those strengths to build a stronger, healthier, safer, more prosperous Pima County.”
Kasmar oversees more than 1,200 employees and a $220 million police department budget at the city. Lesher has notified the Board of Supervisors of Kasmar’s hiring, and noted that he will provide oversight to many of the departments that have justice and law connections, including Public Defense Services, Justice Services, Detainee and Crisis Systems, and Pima Animal Care Center.
Kasmar said he is ready to take on a new challenge in his career.
“I love Tucson, Southern Arizona and being chief of one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the country. After 25 years of public safety service in Tucson, I have reached a point in my career where it’s time to retire from public safety. I look forward to building on some of the collaborative relationships we’ve created regionally to address some of our community’s most complex issues that have proven difficult to solve sufficiently with policing alone. Ultimately, Administrator Lesher made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Kasmar said.
“It was a difficult decision to retire from a profession and an organization that I have been so proud to be part of. I will miss the camaraderie of my team members, and observing their daily displays of empathy, professionalism and courage as they keep Tucson safe. I offer my sincerest appreciation and gratitude to retired City Manager Michael Ortega, Mayor Regina Romero, City Manager Timothy Thomure and the City Council members for their trust and support during my time as chief,” he said. “It has been an honor to serve the people of Tucson as a public servant and chief over the past 25 years. I am confident in the leadership at TPD, and their continued ability to lead the agency, defining what professional policing looks like in our country.”
Lesher also noted Kasmar’s participation in several regional efforts to address persistent social issues and that she has long appreciated his calm, compassionate demeanor and commitment to treating everyone with respect and dignity.
Kasmar started with TPD after graduating from the University of Arizona in 2000, quickly moving up the ranks, becoming a deputy chief just 16 years later. He was briefly the city’s public safety communications director for City Manager Mike Ortega in 2000, before being hired as chief in 2021 after then-Chief Chris Magnus left to work in the new Biden administration as the head of Customs and Border Patrol.
As chief, he immediately got to work connecting with his staff and the community. In short order he reorganized the department, developed strategic initiatives, restructured his command team with a focus on employee wellness, implemented the utilization of data to support operational actions, and developed succession planning. He also worked with city leadership to increase professional team members and commission staffing. Kasmar embraced regional initiatives to address the causes and effects of substance use and mental health disorders, and his innovations and initiatives helped reduce incidences of violent crime over the four years of his leadership.
