Biography of
Hartford Police Chief  Daryl K. Roberts
June  2008

    Since becoming Chief of the Hartford Police Department in July of 2006, Chief Roberts has emphasized continued implementation of the HPD’s Neighborhood Policing Plan through numerous initiatives including the creation of Quality of Life Teams, increased foot beats and bicycle patrols, and the establishment of a partnership with The Travelers Corporation on Truancy Reduction and Prevention.  Chief Roberts 2007 Safe Summer Initiative resulted in a twenty percent reduction in crime over the summer of 2006.

In a law enforcement career spanning more than twenty-four years, Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts, who was sworn in as Hartford's Twenty-First Police Chief on July 12, 2006, has commanded every major division of the Department. A 1982 graduate of the Hartford Police Department Training Academy, Chief Roberts began his career as a patrol officer.  In 1988 he was promoted to detective, and in 1991 to sergeant assigned to the Vice and Narcotics Unit.  In 1994, Chief Roberts served with the Crimes Against Persons and Major Crimes Divisions where he supervised detectives in the investigations of sexual assaults, homicides, kidnappings, rapes, forgeries, robberies and burglaries.  

An innovator in community policing, in 1997 Chief Roberts was made Commander of the HPD’s Community Oriented Policing Operations Unit, a post he held until appointment as Executive Officer to the Chief of Police in 2000.  As the Youth Initiative Supervisor from 2000 to 2002, Chief  Roberts coordinated all community youth related activities of the Department, including the Police Athletic League, the D.A.R.E. Program, and the Hartford Police Explorers and Cadet Programs. 

Promoted to Lieutenant in 2002 and assigned as a Patrol Commander of Field Operations in the South District Police Service Area, Chief Roberts commanded over 150 sworn and civilian personnel.   

Appointed Commander of the Juvenile Investigative Division in April of 2004, Chief Roberts managed and coordinated investigations involving all juvenile sexual assaults, child abuse and any other incidents where children may fall victim to a crime.  During his tenure as Commander the Division saw an 80% reduction in open cases. 

With his co-authoring of the Hartford Police Department’s Neighborhood Policing Plan in February 2004, he was promoted to the rank of Deputy Chief, Chief of the North Division of the City.  In January of 2005, he was promoted to Assistant Chief, Chief of Detectives.  

A recipient of the “Chief’s Medal of Valor”, the highest honor bestowed to a member of the Hartford Police Department, Chief Roberts has three Distinguished Service Medals, six Exemplary Service Medals and a Merit Award.  He has served with the Hartford Police Department Honor Guard  and the Department’s Emergency Response Team.  He is a member of the Connecticut Chiefs of Police Association, the  International Chiefs of Police Association, the Hartford Guardians, the Police Benevolent Association, the National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, and is a former member of Toastmasters International in which he served two years as Vice President for Education.

Chief Roberts graduated with honors from Charter Oak State College with a Bachelor of Science Degree with honors.  He earned his Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from Tunxis Community College and a Certificate of Distinction in Supervisory Leadership from the Connecticut Criminal Justice Command Institute.  In 2006 Chief Roberts graduated from Leadership Greater Hartford.

A Deacon with the St. John’s Full Gospel Deliverance Church, Chief Roberts is the recipient of the 2007 Leadership Greater Hartford 30^th Anniversary Polaris Award, the 2007 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award of the Boy Scouts of America, the 2007 Connecticut State Police CT Chapter Men and Women for Justice Law Enforcement Award, and the 2007 Christian Activities Council Certificate of Merit.  In 2006, Chief Roberts was the recipient of the Chain Fund Purpose Filled Life Award, the Bridgeport Guardians Professional Achievement Award, the H.O.P.E. CDC Leadership Award and the Affecting New Thoughts Business Concepts Appreciation Award.  Chief Roberts is also the recipient of the 2008 Distinguished Chiefs Award from The Police commissioners Association of Connecticut, the 2008 Community Service Award of the Greater Hartford Urban League, and the 2008 Distinguished Gentleman Award of the Southern Connecticut Black Nurses Association, Inc.