Meet the Chief

 Chief of Police Jason Thody  

Jason Thody became Chief of Police March 2, 2020. Prior to his appointment, he was named Interim Chief of the Hartford Police Department on April 15, 2019. He began his career with Hartford as a Police Cadet in 1996, and graduated from the Connecticut Police Academy in 1997. Since then, he has risen through the ranks from Patrol Officer to Captain and was appointed Assistant Chief in August of 2018. He is the youngest of three children and policing has been his lifelong passion. Interim Chief Thody started out as a Middletown Police Explorer in 1989 when he was 14 years-old and has been a member of law enforcement ever since.

In his prior position as Assistant Chief of Professional Standards and Administration, he oversaw Internal Affairs, Inspections, the Training Academy, Career Development (including Recruitment, PAL, Cadets and Explorers), Personnel, Fiscal Management, Planning and Accreditation, and Administrative Services (including Crime Analysis, Fleet, Court Support Services, Records, and Property Control). In this capacity, he led the Department’s effort to acquire body-worn cameras from procurement, through acquisition, to implementation which began in February of 2019. 

Additionally, Thody has been the Department’s designated Accreditation Manager, overseeing the Department’s pursuit of Connecticut State and CALEA accreditation. He also served as the Department Liaison to City Council, Special Advocate for serious disciplinary cases, and a voting member of the Firearms Discharge Board of Inquiry; reviewing officer-involved shootings for compliance with policy and law.

His career path with the Hartford Police Department has been diverse and wide-ranging. He has experience as both a supervisor and commander of many areas within the Department, including patrol operations, the neighborhood-based community policing plan, Planning and Accreditation, the Crime Scene Division, and special teams such as the Crisis Negotiation Team, Emergency Response Team and the Honor Guard. He has been a Connecticut P.O.S.T.C. certified law enforcement instructor since 2005, instructing new recruits and certified police officers in varying subjects including Fair and Impartial Policing’s Implicit Bias training program, which he brought to Hartford in 2015.

Chief Thody is a graduate of the Southern Police Institute’s 135th Administrative Officers Course, the Police Executive Research Forum’s 60th session of the Senior Management Institute for Police, and FBI-LEEDA’s 183rd Executive Leadership Institute. He earned an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Tunxis Community College, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Albertus Magnus College, and a Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice from the University of Louisville. He also holds a Certified Litigation Specialist distinction from Americans for Effective Law Enforcement.

Thody has a focus on open communication, transparency, and accountability.  He plans to continue the Department’s longstanding commitments to community policing, crime prevention, and advancing technologies in policing.

Chief Thody resides in Hartford with his fiancée and his three dogs, Badger, Angel and Brie.