After 35 years of dedicated public service with the city, Coral Springs Chief of Police, Clyde Parry, has announced his plans to retire on June 17, 2022.
Chief Parry relocated to South Florida in May of 1987, after serving one year as a police officer with the Derry Borough Police Department outside of Pittsburgh, PA. Early on in his career with Coral Springs, Parry saw first-hand the effects drugs were having in the community and committed himself to learning all he could about narcotics trafficking and drug smuggling. That commitment quickly earned him a position within the organization’s elite Vice Intelligence and Narcotics Unit where he served for 18 years. Reflecting on that experience, Parry said, “It is so important to prepare yourself for the opportunity before an opportunity presents itself. I started researching and learning about narcotics before a position was even available. That is an important lesson I learned early on in my career.”
In late 2006, Parry was promoted to the rank of sergeant and in 2010 to the rank of lieutenant. After his promotion to captain, Parry developed the Burglary Enforcement and Reduction (BEAR) Unit after Coral Springs was experiencing an increase in home burglaries. That unit lead to great success in preventing home burglaries in our community and became the model for other departments who established similar units. In March of 2018, Chief Parry was hired as Coral Spring’s sixth Chief of Police.
Parry’s promotion came soon after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and in the aftermath, he made it a priority to ensure safer schools for students and faculty. He also made the mental health of the members of the department a priority saying, “Early on in my career I saw how an incident impacted a fellow officer and later in my career we lost a detective to suicide. I know the violence at MSD impacted so many of our members and I am proud with how we supported each other during that unthinkable tragedy and how we still support each other today.”
City Manager Frank Babinec said, “Clyde’s service extends beyond his leadership of the police department, he is a resident, mentor and community volunteer who coached youth football for 30 years. Clyde has helped to develop the next generation of law enforcement, leaving the organization better than when he started. I am grateful for his service to Coral Springs and congratulate him as he enters this next chapter of his life.”
