SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, July 17, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — The University of Utah on Tuesday announced the retirement of its police chief and director of public safety, Dale Brophy.
Brophy, who joined the university’s Department of Public Safety in 2013 as deputy chief of police and who was named director and chief of police in 2015, had a 25-year career in law enforcement.
Starting in 1994, Brophy joined the West Valley City Police Department, where he moved through the ranks from patrol officer to detective, sergeant and lieutenant.
On Tuesday, Brophy announced his intention to retire in an email to the university’s Department of Public Safety.
“After 25 years in law enforcement, I have decided to retire and pursue other opportunities,” the email stated. “I will serve my last day as the director of public safety here at the university on Oct. 15, 2019. This has not been an easy decision, but the timing is right. This move will open a new chapter for me and provide the department an opportunity to continue forward under new leadership.”
Brophy’s decision to retire comes roughly nine months after the Oct. 22, 2018, murder on campus of 21-year-old University of Utah athlete Lauren McCluskey by former short-term boyfriend Melvin Shawn Rowland, and less than a month after McCluskey’s parents filed a $56 million lawsuit against the university.
Jill and Matthew McCluskey, represented by attorney James W. McConkie, announced in June that the lawsuit is a way to force the university to be accountable for failures that contributed to what they call Lauren’s “preventable” death.
A national search will be conducted to fill Brophy’s position.
