Meet Joseph Bryant, Jr.
My Story
Joseph Bryant, Jr. has 42 years of progressive law enforcement experience, including more than twenty-two years of police supervisory and management roles with two major law enforcement agencies. He retired after eight years as the Director of the Department of Public Safety for the New Castle County Government.
He was born and raised in Dunlieth Estates, a suburb of Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. It was built in the early 1950s and was the first housing development marketed for African Americans in Delaware. After graduating from Delawarr High School in 1971, he attended the University of Delaware, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice.
Immediately following his graduation in 1976, Joseph began his law enforcement career as a police officer with the New Castle County (DE) Police Department. During the next 24 years of service, he quickly rose through the ranks, managing nearly every major unit in the department, including the Uniform Patrol Section, Drug Enforcement Unit, Community Service Unit, Internal Affairs Unit, Police Training Unit, and Traffic Services Unit. In his 22nd year with the County Police, he was promoted to the rank of Major, the second highest position within the organization of 300 sworn police officers. As a Police Major, he was responsible for the Operational Section of the Department, representing ¾ of the second largest police department in the State of Delaware.
Throughout his law enforcement career, he received specialized professional training from such institutions including but not limited to the FBI National Academy, the Senior Management Institute for Police Executives, the Harvard Police Executive Research Forum, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
In 2000, Joseph retired from the New Castle County Police, and joined the Delaware River and Bay Authority Police Department, serving as the Deputy Police Colonel. As the Deputy, he was responsible for both the administrative and operational sections of this bi-state law enforcement agency.
In 2010, following the departure of Colonel John McCarran, the Delaware River and Bay Authority officials arranged for a nationwide comprehensive candidate search and selection process. At the conclusion of this extensive process, Joseph was appointed, as the first African American to serve as the Police Colonel for this agency.
Three years later, after being heavily recruited by two of the larger police agencies in the State of Delaware, he and his family decided to resign his position with Delaware River and Bay Authority to take on the challenges of the Director of Public Safety for the New Castle County (DE) Government.
In January 2013, New Castle County Executive Thomas P. Gordon appointed Joseph as the Director of Public Safety, which consisted of the Division of Police, Emergency 911 Center, Emergency Medical Service Division, and the Office of Emergency Management. As the Director, he was responsible for managing 750 County employees, and implementing policies in public safety that directly affected all New Castle County residents.
He was also an active participant in the public safety community, serving on the Board for the Delaware Police Chiefs’ Foundation, the Delaware Police Chiefs’ Council, International Associate of Chiefs of Police, the Salem County (NJ) Police Chiefs’ Council, Cape May County (NJ) Police Chiefs’ Council, New Castle County Police Athletic League, and National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
During his law enforcement career, Joseph earned numerous awards and citations, including Delaware River and Bay Authority Police Officer of the Year; New Castle County Police Chief’s Citation Award; New Castle County Police Officer of the Year; VFW Officer of the Year Award; Community Policing Award; ten Departmental Commendations of Merit; and seven Distinguished Unit Citations.
Joseph is a lifetime member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). In 2008, he was elected to serve as the President of the Delaware NOBLE Chapter, which consist of current and former law enforcement and public safety officials from federal, state, and local agencies. NOBLE members also include civilian criminal justice practitioners, attorneys, academic faculty, and students majoring in sociology, criminal justice, and other related majors. During his many years as President, he served as a strong and positive mentor for the members of the Chapter, including twenty-five officers who were elevated to supervisory and management positions within their respective law enforcement organizations.
Under his leadership, the chapter launched a partnership with the Sociology/Criminal Justice Department at Delaware State University (DSU). Through this partnership, the Chapter proudly established the very first collegiate chapter in the history of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. The express purpose of this partnership was to encourage and motivate young African American students at Delaware State University to strive for excellence. Joseph committed hundreds of hours providing guidance, support, leadership, and job readiness training to students interested in pursuing a career in the public safety profession. To date, more than seventy of the collegiate members have gained employment within the federal, state, and/or local criminal justice agencies.
In addition, he donated a tremendous amount of time in community base initiatives including but not limited to, adopting hundreds of needy families for Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons, hosted a series of town hall forums in various locations throughout the State of Delaware to address community concerns, hosted annual Law Enforcement and Forensic Science Career Fair on the Dover Campus of Delaware State University for all college students in the tri-state region, and participated in the Learn 2 Live presentations, a nationally recognized hands-on interactive training curriculum for teens and young adults, designed to improve their communications with law enforcement.
As a result of these initiatives and so much more, Joseph and the Delaware Chapter were recognized at NOBLE National Conferences as the Nelson Mandela Award winner for community service, Small Chapter of the Year, Medium Chapter of the Year, and he was honored with the 2019 National NOBLE Member of the Year.
A Life member of Kappa Alpha Psi, Joseph was initiated on the charter line at the University of Delaware in the Spring of 1975. He is an active member of the Wilmington (DE) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He is the co-chair of the Chapter’s Mainstream Leadership, Inc, the 501c3 nonprofit arm of the Chapter, which is responsible for funding the community and youth programs. He also served on the Executive Board for the Northeastern Province of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and held several leadership roles in the Chapter. He is a recipient of numerous awards from the Chapter and Province including but not limited to the Wilmington Chapter Member of the Year Award, Alumni Achievement Award, 60th Fraternalism Award, James M. Kidd Award, and the Samuel C. Hamilton Alumni Achievement Award.
An active member of Wilmington (DE) Bethel AME Church, he has been married for 48 years to Sharon and resides in Bear, Delaware. Together, they have two children, Charita, and Joseph, III, Daughter-in-law, Yvonne, and two grandchildren, Chloe, a