Federal Way Chief of Police Andy Hwang held a promotion ceremony on Wednesday to recognize and celebrate the achievements of two outstanding individuals — Commander Brett Hatfield and Lieutenant Brigham Schulz.

Hatfield began his police career in 1989 as a reserve police officer with the city of Normandy Park; he was hired there full-time in 1991. He became a founding member of the Federal Way Police Department in July 1996. Because Hatfield grew up in Federal Way, he was tasked as the geography coach to other officers, many of whom came to Federal Way from around the country.

After working the graveyard patrol shift for two years, Hatfield was selected for the crime prevention unit, where he was the public information officer. He was selected in 2000 to teach criminal law at the basic law enforcement academy. While there, he taught criminal law and patrol tactics to over 1,000 Washington law enforcement officers.  Upon his return to Federal Way, Hatfield was a field training officer. He was next selected to work in the professional standards unit where he conducted recruiting and background investigations.

Hatfield was promoted to the rank of patrol lieutenant in 2007. In 2010, he was selected as the first supervisor of the newly formed Special Operations Unit, which is a three-year rotation. As a result of his hard work and that team’s success in the downtown core, Hatfield was named supervisor of the year in 2010. Hwang said Hatfield is a high quality individual and a proven leader.

Schulz was born and raised in western New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1995 and was stationed at Pearl Harbor while serving on a guided missile cruiser. He was promoted twice, earned the distinguished Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist pin, and was honorably discharged as a second class petty officer in August of 1999.

Schulz was then hired as a police officer by the Honolulu Police Department, where he spent most of his tenure as a patrolman in Waikiki. He learned of the Federal Way Police Department through a Federal Way lieutenant who was vacationing in Hawaii. The Federal Way department hired Schulz in 2002. While working in patrol he became a member of the Civil Disturbance Unit and served as acting lieutenant. He was a field training officer and is an FBI-trained hostage negotiator. In January 2010, Brigham was selected to the Traffic Unit as a motorcycle officer, collision investigator and traffic school instructor.

He has a passion for sports and physical fitness and is always motivated to help family, friends and co-workers improve their fitness level. He is a Cross Fit coach and has competed in many local Cross Fit competitions.