Beloit Police Chief Andre Sayles is bound for a big role — in a city much bigger than Beloit.
The department announced in a Facebook post Friday evening that Sayles is leaving for Washington state. The post says he has taken a job as a deputy police chief in the Seattle Police Department.
Sayles leaves for Seattle after his last day at the helm of Beloit’s police force on June 6.
In Seattle, Sayles will work under former Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes, who left Madison’s police department to become the city of Seattle’s police chief in January.
The Seattle Police Department reports it has 1,800 employees and about 1,000 officers who police a metro of 755,000 people. Compare that to the city of Beloit, population 36,000 — which has a police force of about 85 sworn officers.
Sayles has spent the last four years as police chief in Beloit, and he’s been on Beloit’s police force in a variety of roles for more than 20 years.
Sayles had said in interviews with Big Radio that he’s always wanted to work for a metropolitan police department.
Sayles announced he was leaving for a new job weeks ago, but until Friday, neither Sayles nor Beloit police had announced any details of Sayles’ new job in Seattle.
