KURE BEACH – The Town of Kure Beach will be honoring recently retired police chief Dennis Cooper in a ceremony Tuesday evening.
Cooper, who was hired by the Kure Beach Police Department as a patrol officer in 1992 and promoted to chief four years later, announced his retirement at a town council meeting in June.
“I hope I leave you with a police department that is very healthy and very strong,” Cooper said in June. “It has been a great place to live and a great place to be chief.”
The recognition ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Kure Beach Town Hall, 117 Settlers Lane. A public reception will follow.
“Dennis served Kure Beach as chief of police in an exemplary manner for 20 years … he is a much loved person in this town and is noted for his fairness, honor and integrity.”
Mayor Emilie Swearingen
“All Kure Beach citizens and friends are invited to help us ‘send off’ an all-around great guy, and thank him for his 20-plus years of dedication and commitment to making Kure Beach a safe and pleasant environment in which to live, work and play,” the town said in a statement on its website.
Lt. Michael P. Bowden, a 16-year veteran of the KBPD, was sworn in as Cooper’s replacement on July 1. During that change of command ceremony, Mayor Emilie Swearingen thanked Cooper for his leadership in the community.
“Dennis served Kure Beach as chief of police in an exemplary manner for 20 years … he is a much loved person in this town and is noted for his fairness, honor and integrity,” Swearingen said in July. “He is a role model for many of our town employees and has developed the town’s police force into a well-respected presence.”
The regularly-scheduled Kure Beach Town Council meeting will be held immediately after the ceremony and reception.
