Lynchburg Police department veteran leaving for N.C. chief’s job

A 15-year veteran of the Lynchburg Police Department is leaving the city to take on a new challenge as the police chief in a North Carolina town.

Capt. Brandon Zuidema, who currently serves as the public information officer and the chief’s staff officer, accepted a position as the town of Garner’s police chief effective Dec. 1. The town announced his hire Monday.

“It’s a neat opportunity for me and my family,” Zuidema said. His wife, Spring, is a high school teacher and the couple has two daughters.

Zuidema is replacing the department’s retiring chief, Thomas Moss. The nationally accredited Garner Police Department patrols a town of about 26,000 residents with 62 sworn officers.

Zuidema said he applied in mid-July for the position, but the deal wasn’t finalized until Friday.

“Garner is a really neat opportunity,” he said. ‘It’s a nice community that is close to Raleigh. Its police department is a very successful, professional organization.”

The town searched nationwide for Moss’s replacement. Almost 70 candidates from 24 states applied for the position, which was narrowed down to seven candidates during a two-day assessment.

Zuidema, 37, worked in almost every unit of the Lynchburg Police Department, including: field operations, crime prevention, negotiations team, tactical unit, and firearms and weapons training. He also served as one of Lynchburg’s first school resource officers, was a patrol supervisor and supervised investigations.

The Gainesville, N.Y., native has a master’s degree in sociology from Longwood University and is an adjunct faculty member for Liberty University Online. He is expected to complete a master’s level certificate from Virginia Tech in local government management.

Garner Town Manager Hardin Watkins said in a news release that he was impressed by Zuidema’s performance during the initial assessment and more so by the feedback from colleagues who had worked with Zuidema during his career.

“The superlatives offered by seasoned Police Chiefs sealed the deal in my mind,” Watkins said in the release. “The remarks about Brandon’s character, his productivity, his trustworthiness, and his ability as a problem solver were extraordinary.”