Ft. Lauderdale Police Chief Holds Presser To Discuss His Transition To BSO

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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Fort Lauderdale's police chief is calling it quits.

"Thirty-six years with the department, chief for eight," said Frank Adderley. "Time to do something new."

That something new for Adderley is joining the Broward Sheriff's Office in January.

Sheriff Scott Israel, who used to work with Adderley, has hired him to be a colonel in charge of community affairs.

"In Fort Lauderdale, our mission was to build community in our city," Adderley said at a press conference. "We've done that effectively. I have the qualifications to do that on a county wide level."

Adderley's Twitter page is filled with community events.

He's the first to admit 36 years with the same department has been an extraordinary ride.

But there have been bumps along the way at the top.

One of the bumps is the 2009 arrest of his then wife, Eleanor, for shooting at him over an alleged affair.

Another being the investigation into his personal relationship with convicted Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein, for which he was cleared.

And then there was decision to fire three of his officers over racist slurs and images.

"It was not difficult, it was for all the right reasons," he said.

More difficult? The handling a 90-year-old Arnold Abbott, who gained worldwide attention two years back for challenging a Fort Lauderdale law that restricted feeding homeless people on the beach.

"We had choices of arresting him or giving him a summons," Adderley said. "We respected him and he respected us."

The chief says his replacement's biggest challenge will be dealing with finding and retaining good officers.

He seemed momentarily stumped when CBS4's Joan Murray asked him what advice he had for his successor.

"I'd give him my cellphone," he said with a laugh.