Chubbuck Police Chief retiring from law enforcement after 29 years

CHUBBUCK — After a 29 year career in law enforcement, Chubbuck Police Chief Bill Guiberson is retiring.

Guiberson made the announcement in a news release Wednesday. In an interview with EastIdahoNews.com, Guiberson explains the reason he’s stepping down.

“It’s important at this point in my life to turn my focus towards my family and try to spend more time with them and do more things that I enjoy,” he says.

Guiberson is grateful for “the great group of people” he works with and that’s what he’s going to miss most about the job.

Guiberson grew up in Pocatello and has served as the police chief since 2017. He began his law enforcement career in 1994 after a four-year stint in the Navy, where he served at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.

He got his start in law enforcement as a correctional officer at the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center. It was the facility’s first year of operation and he was among the first group of officers to work there.

Guiberson was hired as a patrol officer for the Chubbuck Police Department after graduating from POST in 1997. Over the years, he’s worked in various capacities, including as a field training officer, a member of the special response team, a K9 officer, patrol division commander and a public information officer.

As a field training officer, Guiberson was often paired with a senior officer and he learned a lot from each of the officers he served with.

“I tried to glean as much as I could off each one of them because some of them were really strong in one area and others were strong in other areas,” Guiberson says.

He was also an instructor at the Idaho POST Academy and the Idaho State University Law Enforcement Program as a master emergency vehicle operations instructor.

In 2008, Guiberson graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He became the President of the Montana/Idaho Chapter of the FBINA Associates and was on the Idaho Peace Officer’s Memorial Board.

Guiberson worked through the ranks of the CPD until he was sworn in as the Chief of Police six years ago.

He cites his enjoyment of the job as the main factor in his career advancement.

“I think I was one of the lucky people that fell into a career that I truly enjoyed,” Guiberson says. “I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot but I would be foolish to think I could have done it without a lot of help from a lot of people.”

He attributes that success to his supportive family, as well as his peers, instructors and supervisors in the military and law enforcement.

Guiberson’s replacement has not yet been determined, but he’s happy to let someone else take over the reins. He’s confident he’s leaving the department in “a good position to move forward into the future.”