Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney.
Vestavia Hills Police Chief Shane Ware talks with his staff in the roll call room at the Vestavia Hills Police Department on Dec. 4. Ware was recently named chief of police after the death of Danny Rary.
Vestavia Hills’ new police chief has been preparing for this opportunity for almost 30 years.
After the passing of former Chief Dan Rary in August and an exhaustive four-month search, Shane Ware was chosen as police chief in late November and officially sworn in during the Vestavia Hills City Council meeting on Dec. 11.
Following in the footsteps of a loved and respected leader can be a tall order. With 27 years of law enforcement experience under his belt, Ware said he is ready to carry on the legacy of his friend and mentor but also eager to forge his own path and infuse the department with his own ideas and personality.
Ware joined the Vestavia Hills Police Department in 2000 and has seen many changes in the department, which has doubled in size during his tenure. However, his love for the city has remained constant, and he never considered advancing his career in another department, he said.
“I stayed around because it’s just a great place to work,” Ware said. “It’s a great department. We truly have a family atmosphere in our department, and you can’t do that in a lot of other places.”
Ware credits Rary’s leadership style for creating an atmosphere of trust and excellence, but the department also had a lot of other great things going for it over the years, he said.
“The support of our city leadership, the support of the community that we serve — it’s really something you can’t replicate in other places,” he said.
Ware began his career in law enforcement in 1996, shortly after graduating from Birmingham-Southern College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Becoming a police officer wasn’t on his radar screen, but Ware had a chance to do a ride-along with a Homewood police officer, and that night clarified what he should do with his life after graduation, he said.
“I just enjoyed what they did,” he said. “The interactions with the public, the attempts at crime enforcement — it was just intriguing to me, and I realized that was what I wanted to do.”
After graduation, Ware attended a police academy and went to work for the Bessemer Police Department. Four years later, he accepted a position with Vestavia Hills. Since then, he has seen the department grow from 55 officers to 110 and helped the department through a host of changes, including the annexation of Liberty Park and Cahaba Heights. Additionally, he has been involved in the department’s evolution into a more influential and engaged police force.
“We are a lot more involved in the greater law enforcement community. We have officers assigned to many task forces in the metro area, like the FBI task force, the U.S. Marshal task force and the drug enforcement task force,” Ware said. “It’s more diversity of opportunity for our officers.”
Mayor Ashley Curry said in a written statement that he has worked with Ware for a number of years and has great confidence in his ability to continue the positive momentum that began under Rary.
“The depth of talent in our Vestavia Hills Police Department is incredible, and I am proud to have Chief Ware at the helm,” Curry said. “We pride ourselves on the professionalism of our VHPD command staff, and Chief Ware is a shining example. He is a graduate of the 276th session of the Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy and, as such, has proven himself to be dedicated to performing his duties with the highest degree of law enforcement expertise, training and education. Throughout his years of service, Chief Ware has consistently demonstrated his dedication to the safety and well-being of our city and its residents, and for that, we are extremely fortunate.”
Ware said he wants to make the Vestavia Hills Police Department a beacon of policing in the Southeast.
“I want us to have a model agency where everybody wants to emulate what we’re doing,” he said. “We’re going to do that through lots of advanced training and investing a lot of energy and resources into our officers.”
