Department News and Information
CHPD Promotes Three Officers as Part of Administrative Changes
New Charlestown
Police Chief Keith McDonald and Assistant Chief Jason Broady, as part of
organizing department supervision to fit new goals and directives, recently
conducted a rank promotion process to fill rank vacancies. The rank
vacancies occurred primarily the result of Chief Dean retiring and personnel
shifting to address new responsibilities, leaving openings for two Sergeants
(which are Shift Supervisors) and one Lieutenant (which is an Operations
Commander position). Several qualifying department personnel underwent an
selection process which included an interview and review process. Richard
Wagner, a Sergeant for several years with the department, was submitted and
approved by the Charlestown Board of Public Works for Promotion to the rank of
Lieutenant. Lt.
Wagner, joined the department in 2002 and graduated
the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy with Honors in 2004.
Wagner will assume the duties of department Operations
Commander, of which department Sergeants report to within the chain of command.
The two Sergeants promoted from the patrolman ranks of the department are Joseph
Jones and Brion Gilbert. Sgt. Jones joined the department in 1999 and
graduated the academy in 2006. Sgt. Gilbert joined the department in 2007,
is originally from the Clark County area but formerly worked several years as a
police officer in Lafayette, Louisiana before joining CHPD. Sgt. Jones and
Sgt. Gilbert will assume duties as Shift Supervisors, of which department
patrolman report to within the chain of command. Shown in the adjacent
photo, are Chief Keith McDonald, Sgt. Brion Gilbert, Lt. Richard Wagner, Sgt.
Joe Jones, and Major Jason Broady, shortly after the February 6th, 2012 swearing
in ceremony.
New CHPD Chief and Assistant Chief working to “bridge gap between community and department”
The new year has brought new faces sitting behind the desks of the Charlestown
Police Chief and Assistant Chief. Charlestown native Keith McDonald was sworn in
on January 17 as the new Chief of Police for the Charlestown Police Department.
McDonald named former K-9 Officer Jason Broady as his new Assistant Chief.
McDonald explained why he chose Broady as the Assistant Chief. “We are
both progressive thinkers. We think a lot alike and do what is fair. We are both
team players,” McDonald stated. The new administration of the Charlestown
Police Department have spent the first few weeks since being sworn in talking
with the officers and working to learn their individual strengths and
weaknesses. “We have sat down with each officer and talked about their
four year goals, short term and long term. We will build a template from it,”
McDonald stated. “We want to create opportunities for the officers here.”
The individual meetings with officers is part of the top priority for McDonald
and Broady, to work on the internal workings of the department. “Short
term (goals) for me is to get the internal workings of the department taken care
of,” McDonald explained when asked what his top three short term goals of his
administration would be. “The first six months, we are currently hiring for a
full time officer and reserves. We are going through the promotional process.”
McDonald continued about his short term goals, “We are definitely getting guys
where they need to be. We've just filled a K-9 slot, we have a Lieutenant rank
open, Sergeant positions open. We are working on the taking care of the internal
workings now.” McDonald and Broady want to also work on the relationship
with the community and the police department. “We are, because we are such
a young department, going to go out and bridge the gap between the community and
the department. We want to be involved in more civic community programs. We,
Jason and I, are going to go out and meet with business owners,” McDonald added.
“This is their department as much as ours. We want to get our brand out there.
We want it to be over and above enforcement. We want to connect with the
community and see what issues they have.”
The duo agree the community needs access to the Chief's office and to know what is going on within their city. They plan on using social media to help bridge the gap and continue to promote the established crime tip line. “Under Chief (Steve) Dean everything changed and we started to bridge the gap of drug information after adding a drug officer in 2008. We are constantly getting tips and are following up with the tips,” McDonald stated. Broady added, “The community is seeing that we are taking the tips seriously and following up on what we are getting. They see us taking the time to get the information we need from the tips.” Take “Operation Clean Streets” for example. Individuals took the time to call and report suspicious activity, what they believed was drug related. We followed up on those tips and made 19 drug dealing arrests. The Charlestown Police Department's new Facebook ® page is another way McDonald and Broady plan to get information to the citizens of Charlestown. “The Facebook ® page is another tool for us to use to get alerts out and be a head of the game. We can alert people of what is going on,” McDonald stated. The Charlestown Police Department's Facebook ® page, “Charlestown City Police Department” can be accessed through the department's website, www.ctownpd.com and click the “like” button to visit them on Facebook ® . Another option is to log onto Facebook ® and search “Charlestown City Police Department.” “Social Media is a tool we can use to bridge the gap between the community and the Police Department”, Broady added. Technology is going to play a role in the long term goals McDonald and Broady are planning for the department. “We want to look at what technologies we can invest in to prevent crime before it happens,” McDonald stated. “We are working on several programs to implement. But first we want to work on the internal workings of the department and then hit the external ideas and programs we talking about. We are looking to have more civic based type of opportunities. We want to cover all the bases and get out and about and get involved.”
Currently the Charlestown Police Department has 14 full time officers and nine reserve officers. Since the retirement of former Chief Steve Dean, the department is looking to hire one full time officer to fill that open spot . The hiring process will also open positions for the reserve division. According to Broady, the department has the ability to reach 15 Reserve Officers. “We are currently taking applications and looking to fill those positions,” Broady stated. “Our reserve department can max out at 15 and we will have 15 full time officers.” The Reserve Division for the Charlestown Police Department go through the same process as the full time officers including a physical fitness evaluation and a written test. McDonald and Broady have recently revamped the Reserve Program. A reserve will go through training for at least a year to accomplish the recently revamped standards.
When asked how he wanted the public to perceive the department, McDonald quickly answered, “Definitely a fair and impartial department to en force laws we have in place. Definitely a department that is working to promote a working partnership between officers and our citizens to identify and resolve community issues with fairness, integrity and professionalism. I want the community to see us as a department that generally cares,” McDonald concluded. McDonald, a third generation police chief, graduated from Ballard High School in 1992. He attended Eastern Kentucky University before graduating from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 1999. McDonald became a Reserve for the Charlestown Police Department in 1995 and was hired as a full time officer in 1998. Broady is a native of Memphis and is a 1998 graduate of Silver Creek High School. Broady also began his law enforcement career as a Reserve for the Charlestown Police Department in 2004. He was hired as a full time officer in 2005 before graduating from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 2006. McDonald and Broady are energized and ready to bridge the gap between the community and the police department by being easily accessible to the citizens of Charlestown. “We are ready to bridge the gap and hit the streets. We want the community to come up and talk to us. Come up and meet us. We are here for them,” Broady stated.
Courtesy by JANNA ROSS
Managing Editor
Green Banner Publications