Thomas E. Kelly

Apache Junction – Chief of Police

Police Chief Thomas E. Kelly was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where he became a police officer in 1972. In 1983 he joined the U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, holding multiple assignments and rising to Agent in Charge. After retiring from the DEA in 2006, he joined the Apache Junction Police Department as Criminal Investigation Captain, later served as Deputy Chief, and in 2012 was appointed Chief of Police.

Chief Kelly is a graduate of Lewis University (IL); attended Command Training at Northwestern University, Chicago; completed Senior Executive Training at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore; and served a six-month fellowship with the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) at Quantico. He’s taught at the DEA National Academy (Quantico), University of Illinois Police Training, and instructed foreign officers in Laos, Hong Kong and Turkey.

In 2014, Governor Brewer appointed him to the Arizona Substance Abuse Partnership and to the FBI ViCAP National Policy Advisory Board.