Valley hopefuls state their case for police chief's job

Valley police Capt. Mike Reynolds, right, and Chambers County Chief Deputy Tommy Weldon are the two finalists for the chief's position.

By: Amy Weaver Staff Writer | Opelika Auburn News
Published: July 03, 2009

The two candidates contending to be the next police chief in Valley plan to use their experiences and leadership skills to improve the morale of the police department and repair its tarnished relationship with the community.

Valley police Capt. Mike Reynolds and former Valley police chief Tommy Weldon were interviewed by the full council and community members Thursday morning at city hall.

Both men will participate in psychological evaluations from a Georgia firm next week. The council intends to name a new chief at its regular meeting July 13.

“We need to rebuild our department and bring it back to the department we had when I first started,” Reynolds said during his interview. “In 1988, we were a family and now we’ve lost that.”

Reynolds contends that many of the department’s problems could be fixed with the right leadership, and that starts with a chief who practices honesty in all aspects of the job. As chief, he said he would have an open-door policy and practice “management by walking around,” a trait he learned in the FBI National Academy last year.

“Your subordinate officers need to know that even though you are the chief, you are not above them,” he said.

Both Reynolds and Weldon said they would be more visible in the community as chief, including visiting local businesses regularly, to restore the department’s good name throughout the community.

“We do have a lot of rebuilding to do,” Reynolds said.

Weldon spoke emotionally about how events in a single year essentially altered the department’s long-standing community relationships.

“I spent 22 years here and the city gave me a lot of opportunities,” he said. “I never imagined the last year would have happened, and it has torn me up to watch it happen.”

Weldon had served as Valley’s chief for a short time before he left the department in 2007 to take the position he now holds as chief deputy of the Chambers County Sheriff’s Department. If he were chief again, he said he would lead by example, and create a positive work place that officers enjoy working in and feel respected. That change, he said, would trickle down into the community.

“We need to make sure we are going the extra mile to show the citizens we are doing everything we can to help them,” he said. “I think, one contact at a time, we can build that trust back up.”