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Updated: October 20, 2022 @ 7:29 am
FPD Deputy Chief Christian Dempsey
FPD Deputy Chief Christian Dempsey
FULTON — The Fulton Fire and Police Commission has promoted Christian Dempsey to the position of deputy chief of the Fulton Police Department.
Dempsey has been with the Fulton Police Department for more than 16 years, joining in 2006. He started as a patrolman, a position he was in for about six years until he became a School Resource Officer for the Fulton City School District.
Dempsey was a SRO based out of G. Ray Bodley High School for two years, during which time he served the entire district.
He was promoted to sergeant in 2014, and then three years later moved up to lieutenant. Dempsey served as lieutenant for five years until receiving his most recent promotion to deputy chief.
Dempsey didn’t always plan for a career in law enforcement, initially pursuing a different pathway.
“I went to college for a couple of years but didn’t really know what I wanted to do,” Dempsey said. “Then I got hired at a trucking company in Baldwinsville and worked there for seven years, I believe, as a driver manager. Some of my friends worked here and said ‘Hey, you should take the test,’ and I took the test and I got hired. It’s very rewarding, working for the community that you grew up in.”
The deputy chief has lived in the Fulton area for all of his life, except for one year while he was away at college. He said that his family members still live in Fulton as well, and that one of the most rewarding aspects of his career has been serving the community.
“It’s nice to be able to police where you live and feel like you’re helping, and we truly do help people,” Dempsey said. “That’s the most rewarding part, is when somebody has something stolen or their house gets broken into and you’re able to make an arrest or get their property back for them. That’s very rewarding, and I think that people appreciate that when it happens.”
Dempsey said that the possibility of becoming deputy chief one day was not always on his mind, as he was just looking forward to being part of the police department at the beginning of his career.
“It’s an honor,” Dempsey said. “I never thought about where I would be. When you first start, you don’t think about it, you’re just excited to be a police officer and go do your job. Over the course of my career I advanced. Within the department, the SRO was considered almost like a promotion, and then to get promoted to sergeant and lieutenant and just keep moving up, it’s an honor and it’s rewarding. It’s a lot of hard work and it pays off when you get to reach deputy chief.”
Dempsey’s goals in his new role include more community involvement and continued work on initiatives. He said that he would like to see the police department be able to do more community-oriented policing, as well as continue to move forward with work on specialized units and initiatives such as adding another canine to the department. He said that another goal for the department is filling vacancies.
“We’ve got to get our manpower back to where it needs to be,” Dempsey said. “That’s a big issue for us right now. being able to recruit and hire people, so I think that’s our goal, getting back to full staff so that we can do some of the things that we want to do.”
Dempsey replaces Michael Curtis as deputy chief. Curtis was promoted to police chief.
Dempsey said that he wanted to transition into his new position because he feels that he is ready to take on the role.
“I was a lieutenant for five years,” Dempsey said. “I’ve been a patrol commander for the last two years, so that oversees everything that goes on in patrol, and I think it was just that I was ready for the next step. I want to help our agency any way that I can and I believe it’s a great opportunity to work with Chief Curtis and continue to move our PD in the right direction.”
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