Interim Police Chief Chad Pride Steps Down, Jen Brown Fills Role

Chad Pride, who had served as interim chief for the East Lansing Police Department since April, has resigned from that role and will retire next month, East Lansing Communications Director Carrie Sampson confirmed to ELi.

Pride took over as interim chief after former Chief Kim Johnson was placed on leave in response to an internal complaint. Johnson resigned in May.

Chad Pride at the March 1, 2023 East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission meeting. Pride recently stepped down from his role as interim ELPD chief. (Dylan Lees for ELi)

Jen Brown was elevated to the interim chief role on Dec. 1 upon Pride’s resignation. Brown has served as a deputy chief since December 2023.

Both Brown and Pride told ELi in June that they planned to apply for the chief position once the hiring process was solidified.

ELi again spoke with both Brown and Pride to learn about their future plans.

“Well, I’ll be [at] 25 years [of service with ELPD] in January,” Pride said. “[My decision to retire] has nothing to do with the department or with the city. These people [do] amazing jobs.”

Pride said that he had a conversation with his family and started thinking about what other opportunities exist for him to pursue.

When asked why he stepped down as interim chief so close to his retirement, he told ELi, “the rank has never been a thing for me.”

Brown offered an explanation based more on camaraderie and teamwork.

“He knows that I would be next in line to be interim chief,” she said. “I think as a courtesy to me, he is allowing me to step into that position for a transition period. He’s still going to be around for December and January, which will allow me to take the lead but then still allow him to be around in case I have questions or need some guidance. I’m very appreciative.”

Jen Brown will now serve as interim ELPD chief. Brown has served as a deputy chief for the department since December 2023. (Courtesy photo)

Brown said she hopes to offer the community consistency after the frequent changes in leadership at ELPD. She wants to focus on recruitment and retention, saying that the department is budgeted to have 51 police officers but only has 43 right now.

The personnel shortages have been a challenge. At the Dec. 10 City Council meeting, City Manager Robert Belleman said ELPD has “more calls and more issues than they have the personnel to resolve.”

The city will soon decide who will lead ELPD through its next phase. City Council allocated nearly $30,000 for a nationwide search for a new police chief at its Nov. 19 meeting, with hopes to select a candidate later this winter.

Even with the wide net the city has cast in its search, Brown feels she will emerge as the best choice as the in-house candidate.

“I do understand the need for a national search,” she said. “I would like the police department, our city leaders, and the community to be a part of that nationwide search and then come back and be able to say we did the nationwide search but we know the best person for our job is our interim chief.”