Police Chief Appoints Thomas Diebold to Detective Sergeant

Bedford Police Chief William Hayes appointed Thomas Diebold, a 26-year veteran of the department, to the position of Detective Sergeant, effective July 21.

Diebold was sworn in at a special ceremony Wednesday morning by town supervisor Lee Roberts, in the presence of town board members and police colleagues. He replaces Hayes, who vacated the position to become chief on June 16.

 "This job is really bigger than any one person," he said. "I might have a different way of doing things, but I'll get them done."

Hayes said he had every confidence that Diebold would succeed in his new position, citing his years of experience as a lead investigator of a number of serious crimes resulting in successful prosecutions. 

After beginning his tenure with the department in 1984, Diebold followed 12 years of serving as a patrol officer with an eight-year stint as a detective in the youth bureau. 

One of his most challenging cases during that time was also one that demonstrated his skills as an investigator, said Hayes.

Two Fox Lane students suddenly disappeared in 2003, and Diebold led the investigation, communicating with two families of vastly different cultural backgrounds, and the FBI.

"Eventually they were found in Mexico after being missing for about a month," Diebold recalled. "It was high-profile, challenging—I learned a lot."

He said that time was a valuable training ground because of the range of cases he worked on—both adult and youth cases gave him a breadth of experience and solid foundation for his new position.

Since 2005, he's served as patrol sergeant in charge of one of the department's five patrol squads.  In the last five years, "he has demonstrated that he is an effective, experienced supervisor," said Hayes.

Diebold was born and raised in Katonah—he graduated from John Jay High School in 1980—and now lives in Patterson with his wife, daughter, age 17, and two sons, age 20 and 13.