Peoria Police chief announces retirement

After serving as Peoria Police chief for the last five years, Art Miller has announced his plan to retire, according to a news release.

Miller will remain on duty until a new police chief is hired and sworn into service.

"To the amazing men and women of the Peoria Police Department, I share my sincere gratitude for my time serving with you," Miller said. "Working with you, and for you, made my tenure here an enjoyable and fulfilling, experience. I will miss our professional camaraderie, which has allowed us to achieve so much together."

A nationwide recruitment for a new police chief will begin Aug. 30. The selection process, to include in-person interviews and meetings with leadership, department staff and the community, are planned for mid-October.

“I want to thank Chief Miller for his service to Peoria,” City Manager Henry Darwin said. “This is a very important position for our community and I commit to a thorough and public process in recruiting our next police chief.”

Miller spent the majority of his career, from 1978 to 2012, with the Los Angeles Police Department. For 20 years, he held upper-level management and leadership roles in the LAPD.

Before coming to Peoria, Miller served as the South Pasadena police chief, where he oversaw a department of 36 sworn officers. 

Nearly five years ago to the date before announcing his retirement, Miller was sworn in as the Peoria Police chief, Sept. 4, 2018, set to serve a department more than five times larger.

In those five years, he was the public safety leader during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a time of police departments struggling to keep sworn officers staffed, Miller inherited a short staffed roster, but helped bring the Peoria department to fully staffed levels. 

Miller makes his announcement on the heels of a recently-filled leadership dearth at city hall.