Columbus City Council appoints Brett Strecker police chief after closed‑session review of complaint

The Columbus City Council on Nov. 3, 2025 approved the appointment of Brett Strecker as police chief after a closed‑session review prompted by a citizen complaint. The council voted to go into closed session to discuss the appointment and complaint, citing “the prevention of needless injury to the reputation of an individual,” then returned and approved Strecker’s appointment by voice vote.

The mayor submitted Strecker’s name at the meeting and noted the Civil Service Commission certified him on Oct. 14, 2025; the council waived the two‑week waiting period that normally applies to a police‑chief appointment. The motion to appoint was made and seconded and the council approved the appointment without a recorded roll‑call tally on the public record.

Brett Strecker, who previously served in the Columbus Police Department beginning in 1994 and has worked in the investigations division, thanked council members and family after the appointment. “I have a lot of things that I wanna work on. Some of those are community policing. I want to make us a little bit more efficient in some of our areas. And I also want to increase our officers’ contact with the public on many different levels,” Strecker said.

The council’s public action concluded with the appointment; the closed‑session discussion and any complaint details were not disclosed in open session. Mayor James Boeckley, City Administrator Tara Vasacek and City Attorney Neil Valeris were named as participants in the closed session.

The appointment takes effect per local practice; no additional implementation timeline was provided at the meeting.