John Nesky Named as Bowie's Chief of Police

John Nesky was named as Bowie’s new Police Chief this afternoon after serving as Acting Police Chief since the in November of last year.

“I’m excited. I was really happy about the amount of community support and am also grateful for the confidence put in me by the city council,” said Nesky.

The decision comes after an that included 130 applicants. The city had been interviewing candidates last week before offering Nesky the position earlier this week.

While the appointment of Nesky may seem natural given his background and progress within the department, he said the selection process was, “absolutely necessary.”

“You need to take a look at what’s available to see who’s the best fit for the job,” Nesky said of the vetting process. “You have to be certain that this is what’s best for the city."

Bowie's Mayor G. Fred Robinson agreed that while Nesky was the best choice, the city needed to go through the application process before making a decision.

“I’m glad we went with the open process,” said Robinson. “Nesky worked his way up to the final selections. If you didn’t know the guy and you looked at his experience and academic preparation, you’d still say he’s a good choice.

“Then add to all of that his experience here and knowledge of Bowie and it gives him an extra leg up.”

In a press release sent this afternoon, City Manager David Deutsch said, “After evaluating all of the candidates, it was clear that Acting Chief Nesky had the best combination of skills and experience to lead this department into the future.

"He is an excellent leader, he is an innovator and he has already established strong ties with the Bowie community. I am very pleased that he will be the one to implement City Council’s long-term vision for the Bowie Police Department.”

Nesky helped to establish the department in Bowie since its inception—being the first hired officer and serving as deputy chief—and has helped with the hiring and managing of a now 48-officer force.

“I know the community. I’m very engaged and that’s essential to doing a good job. We can’t operate in a vacuum, we need to be listening to the community’s concerns,” said Nesky.

He said that among all of the challenges the department faces, the biggest currently is ensuring that there continues to be controlled growth.

“The department needs to continue to grow, but in the proper order and we need to streamline things as much as possible,” said Nesky.

The department will soon be implementing a new Records Management System (RMS), which Nesky says will be huge in keeping things organized and will help with the streamlining of the department’s procedures.

Nesky came to Bowie after working for the District Heights Police Department for 11 years, where he served most recently served as their chief of police, receiving several commendations and awards along the way.

He was also instrumental in the organization of the city’s award winning National Night Out Against Crime event, as well as heading up the city’s RAD (Rape Aggression Defense System) classes to provide self-defense classes for women.

Bowie’s new chief also helped to establish and oversee , which has had very high success rates on closing cases.

Nesky is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where he holds a degree in Criminal Justice and brings 20 years of military and civilian law experience to Bowie.

"I’m looking forward to the growth and maturity of our police department, and am happy about the selection," said Robinson. "He obviously has my respect and confidence and from what I can gather he has the same from the rest of the [city] council members."

John Nesky will be sworn in as Police Chief at the Council meeting on Monday, March 21 at 8 p.m. in the Council Chambers at .