By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph will be looking for a new police chief.
Chief Chris Connally has announced he will retire at the end of the month, bringing to a close 38 years in law enforcement. Connally, who came to St. Joseph in 2006, says as he looks back on his tenure here, he’s most proud of how St. Joseph police officers and citizens have come together to solve problems.
“It’s really a collective thing. It’s not any one thing. It’s all these relationships and things that come together in our city,” Connally tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post.
Connally served as interim city manager twice during his tenure with the city.
As for the search for his replacement, it begins soon according to City Manager Bryan Carter who says the announcement didn’t come as a surprise.
“Chief Connally’s been talking about retirement for a few months now,” Carter tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “We just hadn’t nailed down a timeframe until recently.”
Carter says that has allowed city officials to begin the next steps.
“The next steps will actually be putting together the plan of how we’re going to conduct the search,” Carter says. “I do intend to do a wide search and look for candidates who are interested from the region or the country.”
Carter regards the position as extremely important.
“Oh, it’s one of the most important roles in our community if not the most important from the city’s standpoint,” according to Carter.
Carter says Commander Dave Hart, a native of St. Joseph who has been with the police department since 1999, will serve as interim police chief.