Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis speaks at the Hoover City Leaders Breakfast at Discovery United Methodist Church in Hoover, Alabama, on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025.
Hoover police chief Nick Derzis is indeed running for mayor of Hoover this year, a source within his campaign confirmed Monday..
Derzis on Sunday called a press conference for Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. He would not confirm he is running for mayor, but the press release said “Derzis will be joined by community leaders and supporters as he delivers an important message about his and the city of Hoover’s future.”
The press conference is slated for 2 p.m. at the former Buy Buy Baby store in the Patton Creek shopping center at 4351 Creekside Ave. Derzis' name has been thrown around as a potential mayoral candidate for months, but in the past he said he did not plan to run.
Frank Brocato, who has been Hoover’s mayor since 2016, said in December he is seeking a third term as mayor. Brocato served 42 years with the Hoover Fire Department before retiring in 2015 as fire marshal and chief operations officer.
Derzis began his career as a law enforcement officer with the Hoover Police Department in 1979 and was promoted through the ranks over the years. He was named assistant police chief in 1999 and chief of police in January 2005.
Throughout the years, he was responsible for numerous initiatives in the department, including the tactical response team, school resource officer program and construction of a new police operations center and jail.
During his tenure as chief, the department in 2022 earned accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, indicating that the department meets 180 internationally accepted standards for law enforcement work.
He is a member of the FBI National Academy Associates, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police, Metropolitan Criminal Justice Executive Association and Law Enforcement Executive Development Association, and he is the chiefs representative on the board for the National Association of School Resource Officers.
In 2017, NASRO named its Safe Schools Leadership Award after Derzis, and he was one of four people to receive the award the first year it was given. In 2014, the Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama named Derzis the Crime Stopper of the Year for the Birmingham-Hoover metro area.
Derzis, also known for being a snazzy dresser, gained national attention in 2023 for his fashionable attire during nationally aired press conferences related to a fake abduction of a 25-year-old nursing student that was reported to have occurred on the side of Interstate 459.
Derzis was born in Berlin, Germany. As the son of a colonel in the U.S. Army, he lived all over the world and spent nine years in Arlington, Virginia, before moving to Alabama in 1977, according to his bio on the Police Department website.
He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Samford University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 12:22 p.m. with confirmation that Derzis is indeed running for mayor.
