EVERETT — Police Chief Dan Templeman’s successor, newly sworn-in Police Chief John DeRousse, has also been one of his respected and trusted right-hand men in the department for years.
Over the past 25 years, DeRousse worked his way up the ranks, serving as an officer, sergeant, lieutenant and captain before being promoted to a deputy chief in 2018.
Mayor Cassie Franklin was elated DeRousse accepted her appointment offer to be chief. He was sworn in at the Nov. 1 City Council meting.
Franklin said in the city’s announcement that DeRousse “knows this community and our community knows and trusts him. He will be able to follow in Chief Templeman’s footsteps, leading by example and ensuring the Everett Police Department remains one of the best, if not the best, departments in the state.”
DeRousse has been involved in several key initiatives, including launching the city’s Community Outreach and Engagement Team (COET), rebuilding the Child Abduction Response team and rolling out the regionwide Violent Crime Reduction Unit, the city said in its announcement press release.
He became deputy chief of administration and investigations first, taking over for retiring D.C. Jim Lever. It was a bump up from being captain of the Investigations Division.
DeRousse then switched over to be department deputy chief of operations when D.C. Mark St. Clair retired.
Everett’s deputy chief of administrations and investigations today is Jeraud Irving.
Who takes DeRousse’s position as deputy chief of operations is still to be decided in coming weeks, department spokeswoman Officer Ora Hamel said last week.
DeRousse has two Masters Degrees: one in criminology from the University of Cincinnati, and one in homeland security from the Naval Post Graduate School. He’s also a FBI National Academy graduate.
Templeman concluded his time Oct. 31. Templeman had also been Everett’s deputy chief of operations prior to being appointed chief in summer 2014 when Chief Kathy Atwood retired.
