By Mary O’KEEFE

On Thursday night, the Glendale Police Dept. said goodbye and thank you to retiring chief Ron DePompa. The retirement event was held at DreamWorks Animation in Glendale.

For over 35 years, DePompa has been a member of the Glendale Police Dept. For a little more than three years, he has been the GPD chief of police and on Thursday he formally left the position.

Though DePompa had officially retired in February, he had stayed on, hired by the City of Gelndale while the search for a new chief continued. Robert Castro was chosen as the city’s chief of police and assumed those duties last week.

The DreamWorks campus was chosen as the location for the farewell event. The campus is a perfect place to highlight successful business in Glendale and an appropriate site to say goodbye to the head cop who helped keep it a safe place.

“It’s a surreal experience not to drive into work on Monday,” DePompa said of his retirement.

Well-wishers from all walks of life came to the event where the chief was thanked and honored for his years of service.

But don’t think retirement will keep DePompa away from community services and events. Although his wife does have a rather long “honey do” list, he said, he still lives in the city and plans on being active in it.

“I am ready for the next chapter of my life,” he said.

The new GPD chief will be officially sworn in today.

  Mary Okeefe