Robert William has served Glendale for 24 years – his entire law enforcement career – and is now the interim chief of the Glendale Police Dept. 

By Mary O’KEEFE

Robert William was given the position as interim chief of the Glendale Police Dept. (GPD) in December 2025 after the departure of then-GPD Chief Manuel “Manny” Cid, who left to take the job of chief of police in Anaheim. He had served as chief of police in Glendale for about three years. 

William served as deputy chief and support services captain under Cid’s leadership and praised him for his leadership at GPD.

“[Cid] came in and empowered his captains, his command staff and the entire management team to be strong leaders,” William said. “[We worked] together closely over the last three years that he was [here].”

Cid put forward many initiatives including creating a strategic plan, which William worked on. 

“We worked on a strategic plan that would [move forward] the Glendale Police Dept. and public safety over the next three to five years,” he said. 

He added he will be at the department to see the strategic plan through. 

“I am going to be here for a while,” he said. 

He plans on being with the department in whatever capacity the City has him in, hopefully in the position of chief, but he knows whatever decisions he makes now as the interim chief he will live with throughout his career. 

“But even bigger than that decision that I make about public safety are decisions that my children, my wife and my family have to live with because they all live in Glendale and they’re all going to be impacted by my decision/s,” he said. 

William was young, about 7 years old, when he and his family immigrated to the U.S. from Armenia. He is of Armenian and Syrian descent. He was impressed by the diversity of the family’s adopted city of Glendale. When he was younger he lived in south Glendale and now he and his family live in north Glendale, which gives him an advantage in understanding the city as a whole. 

He can relate to immigrants and how fear, and mistrust of authority, plays a role in their lives. 

“A lot of people don’t trust the police – where they come from. We certainly didn’t. When my family came here we were taught [in Armenia] to be afraid of police,” he said. 

He added the police there were like an occupying force but what he found in Glendale was such a different culture of law enforcement.  

“The police [in America] are very much a part of the community,” he said. 

And that is the part of the GPD that William focuses on – not only with the veteran officers and commanders but with younger officers as well.

“I am really interested in getting younger officers more involved in the community. In fact, that’s one of the things that we identified in our strategic plan – to give our newer officers an opportunity to meet the community in different ways. They are obviously out in the community when they are doing their jobs but it’s a different feel when they actually go to events and understand the [community’s] priorities,” he said. 

William believes this is a good way to build relationships between GPD and the public. 

Community outreach is why he first came to GPD. Despite not coming from a law enforcement family William had always been drawn to law enforcement. He looked up to officers and respected them. In high school other careers presented themselves but he continued to be drawn to law enforcement. He reached out to GPD and, at 17-18 years of age, asked for a job at the department. He was actually too old for the Explorer program and not yet old enough to be a cadet. He was offered a volunteer position with GPD as a way to get his foot in the door. He volunteered until he went to college, then was able to join the force. 

Because of his journey to GPD he also understands recruitment and how to reach out to new recruits, including those from other agencies. 

William has found that a social media presence is important for recruitment and for outreach.

“Gone are the days we try to make recruitment videos. Now it’s so much easier to use social media to [recruit] and we can attract so many more people,” he said. “Not all video [posts] are about recruiting but we try to show a lighter side of law enforcement and [convey] that family feeling that we have and make it a little more fun … not always about the job.”

He added this has helped in recruitment efforts and very often those interviewed for a police position mentioned they first became aware of GPD through social media platforms. 

William continues promoting the community and “family feeling” with the officers and staff at GPD. It is important for officers to feel safe and to feel they can share any issues of concern. 

“We’re the third largest [department] in Los Angeles County, but there is a family feel to our [department]; however, the community expects small city service. We need to make sure that we’re delivering that,” he said. “What I’m looking for is making sure that our officers understand that when they come into our department, whether it’s the lateral officers or [those from] other agencies.”

In Glendale, the city manager is in charge of hiring the police chief, with the support of the city council. According to the City, there is not a timeline as to when a decision will be made to confirm, or present, the new chief of police.