Glendale Appoints Robert William as Permanent Police Chief

Glendale has appointed Robert William as permanent chief of the Glendale Police Department, ending his interim period and establishing permanent leadership for the city’s police agency.

The City of Glendale announced the appointment on June 23, 2026. The announcement said William had served as interim chief since December 2025. Independent local reporting said the Glendale City Council voted unanimously to appoint him to the permanent position.

The department’s Office of the Chief of Police now identifies William as Glendale’s 21st police chief and confirms his June 2026 appointment.

What changed

William’s move from interim chief to permanent chief is a formal leadership decision for the Glendale Police Department. The city’s announcement describes the position as permanent, while the council vote reported by the Crescenta Valley Weekly provides the public record of unanimous council support described in the approved coverage.

The available sources do not provide a separate transition date beyond the June appointment. They also do not list William’s salary, contract term or a specific first-year policy plan. That means the confirmed development is the appointment itself, rather than a broader package of newly adopted policing policies.

For Glendale, the practical consequence is that the department has a permanent chief following William’s service in an interim role. The appointment sets the department’s formal leadership and gives the city a named chief responsible for carrying forward the direction identified in the announcement.

Priorities named by the city

Glendale said the department’s priorities under William include employee development, transparency, innovation, organizational excellence and service to the community.

Those priorities outline the city’s stated expectations for the department, but the announcement does not attach measurable targets or deadlines to them. The available material does not say what specific programs William will introduce, how the priorities will be evaluated or whether the council adopted the appointment as a reform mandate.

The distinction matters because a permanent appointment establishes leadership but does not, by itself, document changes in department operations or public-safety results. The approved sources do not provide data showing that the appointment has changed crime rates, staffing levels or other outcomes.

A local connection

The Crescenta Valley Weekly reported that William is the first Glendale police chief of Armenian American descent. The newspaper also identified him as a Glendale High School graduate.

Those details connect the new chief to Glendale’s local community and school history. They do not, however, establish specific policy consequences or predict how the department will perform under his permanent leadership.

What comes next

William’s next known phase is leading the department as its permanent chief. The city’s stated priorities provide the broad framework for that work: employee development, transparency, innovation, organizational excellence and community service.

No additional deadline, first-year plan, contract information or performance benchmark was included in the approved sources. Further details about the administration of William’s tenure would therefore need to come from later city or department announcements, council records or other verified reporting.