Deputy Chief William T. (Bill) Dean commands the Investigative Division. He began his career with the Virginia Beach Police Department in February 1986. He is from Ocala, Florida later moving to Athens, Georgia and then Poolesville, Maryland as his family followed the policing career of his father. He is married, with an adult son.
Deputy Chief Dean has served our community as a police officer in several capacities including Precinct Uniformed Patrol and as a Special Investigations Detective assigned to the Criminal Intelligence Unit, participating in joint investigations with the Drug Enforcement Agency, the United States Customs Service, and as a Task Force Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a supervisory capacity, he has served in the Operations Division as a Patrol Sergeant, a Patrol Lieutenant, and as Command Duty Captain. In the Investigative Division, he has served as a Detective Sergeant in the Domestic Violence and Missing Persons Unit, and most recently as the Captain, and Commanding Officer of the Detective Bureau. Deputy Chief Dean has also served the Department in the Professional Standards Division as an Internal Affairs Lieutenant, Freedom of Information Act Coordinator, Accreditation Manager, and Training Director. He has also held ancillary duties as the Crisis Intervention Team Coordinator, and the Police Liaison to the Virginia Beach Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative.
Deputy Chief Dean earned his Associates Degree in General Studies from Montgomery Community College, Germantown Maryland, Bachelors of Science Degree in Criminal Justice and his Master of Public Administration Degree from Old Dominion University, earning several academic distinctions. He is also a graduate and class president of the University of Virginia and Virginia State Police National Criminal Justice Command College, a graduate of the Police Executive Research Forum's Senior Management Institute for Police, and the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police West Point Leadership Program. Deputy Chief Dean was instrumental in the development of the Virginia Beach Police West Point Leadership Course, serving at various times as a class coordinator and instructor. He is an Assessor for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) and a past president of the Virginia Association of CALEA Accreditation Professionals.