Day named assistant police chief

A highly-respected law enforcement veteran who’s trained military and police units all over the world has been named assistant chief of the London Police Department.

Bobby Day brings 31 years of experience and a long list of awards and certifications to his role as assistant chief.

“He is the most qualified person law enforcement person I know of in Kentucky, period,” Chief Chuck Johnson said. “He’s trained military and police units all over the world, not just Kentucky. Just his training certificates are about four pages long. He’s very well respected nationwide, and is he’s just one of the finest human beings. He’s going to be a great asset to this department and this community.”

Day most recently served as chief of police for the Laurel County School System. He was first hired as a security consultant, but took the role of chief and helped build a new department from scratch when it was mandated by the state legislature.

He said he was proud of the work he did organizing the school police department in a short time frame. It’s in good shape now, which allowed him to entertain the idea of becoming assistant chief at the LPD.

“The schools are near and dear to my heart and always will be,” Day said. “The schools are fully staffed. I felt like with me coming to the London Police Department that I could have a bigger impact on London and Laurel County, as well as the schools.”

“Chief Johnson and I go way back,” he said. “I think the world of him. He is someone that I trust and have confidence in. I always told him I would work for him when the opportunity arose.”

As for the police department, he said “there’s some great officers here.The potential is amazing. We are set up for success. I think myself, along with the guidance and leadership of Chief Johnson, and Major Randy Medlock, we can really take this agency to another level.”

At an introductory meeting with the staff Tuesday, Day listed his expectations for the department, citing leadership and management concepts he’s carried with him throughout his career.

“It’s all about doing the right thing for the right reason, and not accepting mediocrity,” he said. “I want their expectations of themselves to exceed my expectations of them, and my expectations are going to be really high.”

Day said he is also a big proponent of image. “It’s how you look. How you carry yourself. How you conduct yourself and how you treat people,” he said. “It’s the attention to detail on the little things, such as your uniform, that will carry over to other aspects of life and policing.”

Day said he wants officers to actively engage with the public and businesses to make them feel safe and more comfortable.

“We’re a team. We’re a family. London and Laurel County is our family. We owe it to the community to make it the best department it can be,” he said.

Day also thanked his wife Michelle, who is a special deputy with the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, for supporting his law enforcement career.

“The decision to come here wasn’t taken lightly and I would not have approached it without the input from my wife Michelle,” he said “She’s the one that keeps it all together.”

Day has built a distinguished career within the operational, administrative and command functions of the Kentucky State Police since 1991. He served as a member of the elite, full-time Kentucky State Police Special Response Team (SRT). During his over 10 year tenure with SRT, Mr. Day served in roles ranging from Entry Team Member, Sniper, Team Leader and Team Commander. In addition, Day also served as the Assistant Commander at the Kentucky State Police Academy serving as Primary Firearms Instructor and State Firearms Coordinator.

A Kentucky Law Enforcement Council certified instructor, Day has taught military and law enforcement personnel throughout the United States and abroad. He has vast instructional experience in the areas of firearms, sniper training, defensive tactics, tactical command, critical incident management, special event planning, threat/risk assessment, and foreign counter-terrorism and hostage rescue.

Day has also served as an instructor for the Department of Criminal Justice Training where he was responsible for the training and coordination of Diminishable Skills which consists of; combat first-aid/tac-med, defensive tactics, legal, firearms and driving. Day also served as the Chief of Police for the Laurel County School Police Department.

Day is a certified instructor/trainer in all areas of firearms, to include: handgun, submachine gun, tactical rifle and sniper training. In addition to holding a Black Belt in Krav Maga, he is also a certified defensive tactics instructor possessing instructor certifications in PPCT, Krav Maga Worldwide and Krav Maga through USKMA. He has finished as Top Overall Shooter and/or Honor Graduate in several shooting competitions and sniper events throughout the country to include winning a 2nd place medal during the World Sniper Championship in Phoenix, AZ in 2000.