MAYS LANDING- ACPO Chief of Atlantic County Investigators Bruce K. DeShields has served with the ACPO for over 30 years. Chief DeShields is a veteran law enforcement officer with over 37 years of law enforcement experience when he started his law enforcement career in 1982.
Chief DeShields has served the ACPO as a Captain of County Investigators, Lieutenant of County Investigators, Sergeant of County Investigators and County Investigator.
In his role as Captain of County Investigators, Chief DeShields served as the Commander of the Litigation Division, overseeing the ACPO Grand Jury Unit, Trial Unit, Special Litigation Unit, Juvenile Unit and County Crisis Negotiation Team. In this role, he was also responsible to assure the guidelines for the State of New Jersey Office of the Attorney General Bail Reform initiative goals are met.
As ACPO Captain of County Detectives, he also served on the Atlantic County Opiate Task Force, the Liaison with the State of New Jersey’s Opiate Initiative, the Coordinator for the Atlantic County Law Enforcement Naloxone Program and as the Team Leader of the Crisis Negotiation Unit.
Chief DeShields also served as the Commander of the ACPO Special Investigations Unit, which includes the ACPO Guns, Gangs and Narcotics Unit, Intelligence Unit and the Homeland Security and Crisis Negotiations Team.
Chief DeShields has served in Liaison roles to the NJ Attorney General’s Office NARCAN Program, the NJ Attorney General’s Prescription Fraud Investigation Program, the State Narcotics Commanders Association, South Jersey Narcotics Commanders Association and the United States Marshall’s Service Fugitive Task Force.
Chief DeShields previously served as an ACPO Lieutenant, commanding the ACPO Major Crime Unit and was in charge of all teams and sections, including: Homicide Unit, Forensics Unit, Arson Unit, Fatal Collision Unit and Drug-Related Death Investigations. Chief DeShields has also served as the on-scene commander of homicide investigations and on-scene supervisor of officer-involved shootings.
Prior to his service with the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Chief DeShields served as a Patrol Officer with the Riverside Township Police Department, the State of New Jersey, Human Services Police Department and the Richard Stockton Police Department.
Chief DeShields received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Phoenix. Chief DeShields received a Medal of Valor from the New Jersey State Chiefs of Police Association and he was nominated by the National Association of Police Organizations for the Top Cops Award 2011.