In one of his first actions as Troy mayor, Don Banning promoted officer Bob McLeod to chief of police.

McLeod was an obvious choice to lead the three-officer department, Banning said.

“I promoted from within, and he is the most qualified and best attuned for the job,” Banning said. 

McLeod acknowledged Banning’s confidence in his performance.

“He’s going to hold me to a very high standard,” he said.

Before becoming a full-time TPD officer in August 2005, McLeod worked 10 months as a part-time police officer and 2 1/2 years as a reserve deputy for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

McLeod will hire an officer to bring the force up to full staff as soon as possible. Applications, he said, were due Monday.

McLeod and Banning have discussed new administrative policies and possibly changing officer work hours, McLeod said. Another idea McLeod looks forward to implementing, maybe as soon as this spring, is conducting regular evening meetings with the public.

“We can tailor our patrols around what is going on in town, get the town involved and have a lot of open discussion,” McLeod said. “You put that many heads together, you can solve a lot of crime and be a deterrent.”

McLeod grew up in Seattle and moved to Troy in 1993 to be closer to his mother and sister, who made the move a few years prior. He shares a home with his wife, Teresa, and daughter, Sarah. His adult daughter, Nicole, lives in Oregon.

The police chief position became vacant when Mitch Walters’s letter of resignation went into effect Jan. 1. Walters quit after a controversial open-mic radio conversation between him and officer Kit Pearson was broadcast in November over a frequency available to the public.

A civil lawsuit filed in November in federal court against McLeod concerning a Taser incident two years ago is still pending. Last month a three-person committee formed by the city determined McLeod did not violate Alfred “A.J.” Haflich’s civil rights when he Tased him in the backseat of a patrol vehicle.

In other news that occurred past presstine, the Troy City Council was scheduled to convene Monday night to appoint a new councilmember to the vacancy created when Banning was elected mayor.

According to Banning and city clerk Sandra Johnson, the council was expected to appoint the sole applicant, Gary Rose, to finish the remaining two years of Banning’s term.

Also Monday night, new councilmembers Fran McCully and Phil Fisher, new city judge Allen Dye and McLeod were scheduled to be sworn in.