Editor’s Note: Joe Gaylord joined CAP in 2010 as Protective Services Manager after retiring from more than 32 years’ service in law enforcement.
As a kid growing up in Minnesota, Joe Gaylord, CAP’s Protective Services Manager, knew he wanted to serve his community. So after he married his high school sweetheart in 1977, he headed to the Duluth Police Department to take the exam and become a police officer. Unfortunately, he came up a little short…literally. There was a height restriction like a ride at Disneyworld and Joe was way too short to even get a chance to compete.
But he was undeterred. He discovered that Hennepin County which included Minneapolis didn’t have such a restriction and he began his career as a deputy sheriff. After about four years in law enforcement, Gaylord and his wife visited his sister in Scottsdale…in the winter. Needless to say, it wasn’t long before they left the cold Minnesota temperatures and relocated to Arizona where he found his home with the Chandler Police Department. It was a perfect fit.
Gaylord started as a patrolman, working the streets. Throughout the years, he taught at the academy and worked homicide and sex crimes before moving up – first as a sergeant, then lieutenant, commander and ultimately assistant police chief.
“Being a cop is about serving,” Gaylord said. “A lot of times, cops don’t understand what they’ve gotten themselves into. You see people at their worst and once you’re into the career, you find out how much there is that people need.”
After retiring from the Chandler Police Department, Joe joined CAP as Protective Services Manager in 2010. But his on-duty work was only one of the many ways Gaylord was serving his community.
At CAP, he became active in CAP Turnouts, a group of employees that volunteers in the community. He eagerly joined his co-workers to serve the elderly, sick and those in need. He painted, landscaped and built houses.
On his own time, Joe and his wife Laura started volunteering through their church; small groups would head out into the community to help those in need. They even took trips out of the country to do work. But Joe wanted to do more locally.
So he reached out to the City of Chandler and discovered that within the Neighborhood Services Department, there were a lot of people in need. Residents were getting citations for peeling paint, alleys full of weeds and fences falling down. Often, they were unable to address the problem; some were physically incapable, some financially incapable, some both.
Joe stepped up. He spends many of his days off from CAP helping. Painting. Patching. Weeding. Yes, for strangers.
“I truly have a service heart, both personally and professionally,” said Gaylord. “And truly, there are so many people who have needs and absolutely no one to help them.”
One of his most memorable experiences was helping a woman who was battling cancer for the second time. She was a nurse; her air conditioning had broken and this single mother was relying only on a fan to cool her home. All of her money was being spent on medical bills. Joe and his wife, also a nurse, started fundraising, securing the expertise to get this cancer patient a new AC unit. Ultimately the funds were secured and a new A/C unit was installed.
Gaylord also volunteered professionally. In 1999 Joe was selected to attend the FBINAA National Academy back in Quantico VA. This is a ten week command college that only about 1% of law enforcement have the honor to attend. The Association has a membership of 17,000 member in 170 countries and Joe was elected to the national board in 2017. This Association’s goal is to train law enforcement worldwide and it is all done on a volunteer time. Joe served nine years on that board and was the president in 2015.
His career has spanned more than 40 years; he has touched thousands of lives. And he isn’t close to done.
“I don’t want to be one of those guys who just sits around,” Gaylord said. “I see a need and I can fill it. I don’t track it or keep score, I just want to do good things for others.”
A career of service…a life of service.
