QUINCY — Quincy got a new police chief in 2017.

Former Grant County Sheriff’s Deputy Kieth Siebert was sworn in as the city’s new chief of police in early December following the sudden resignation of Bob Heimbach in March.

“It’s exciting to come to work with the good men and women who work here,” Siebert said when his appointment was announced in November. “I know the community and most of the officers. It’s a close-knit law enforcement community here in the Columbia Basin.”

While City Attorney Allan Galbraith described Heimbach’s resignation earlier in the year as “a negotiated resignation,” Heimbach later said he was given a choice to resign or be fired.

“They gave me four hours to make a decision. I had no option, no choice,” Heimbach said.

A series of consultant reports from 2014-2016 based on surveys of police officers painted a picture of a Quincy Police Departments that was “dysfunctional, depressing, toxic, and hostile” with few clear lines of authority and from which Heimbach eventually became withdrawn.

In addition to hiring Washington State Patrol veteran William Larson as their interim chief, Quincy also decided to reinstate the position of police captain to help properly administer the department.

“Officers need fully engaged leadership from sergeants, and sergeants need engaged leadership, and that cannot always come from the chief,” Interim Chief Larson said.