Richmond’s police chief retires on his birthday
RICHMOND, Ky. (WTVQ) – Calling it “bittersweet,” Richmond Police Chief James Ebert retired on Wednesday, which happened to fall on his 44th birthday.
He served the city for four and a half years. Prior to coming to Richmond, he was with the Frankfort Police Department for 16-years.
Assistant Chief Rodney Richardson will take over as interim chief with the expectation of becoming the full-time chief and dropping the ‘interim’ tag in November, according to city officials.
Below is Chief Ebert’s post on the police department’s Facebook page:
My Final Post as Chief Of Police
When I retire today, I will have had the honor of being the Chief of Police for almost five years.
I want to thank the men and women, both civilian and sworn of the Richmond Police Department, for their support over these years. For without them and all of their hard work, the Richmond Police Department would not be what it is today — an outstanding professional police department that is customer service driven to keep our city and its citizens safe.
It was not easy at first, being a new chief coming in from the outside (Frankfort Police Department), with all my new ideas for running a police department, implementing community policing philosophy, and ensuring transparency by holding law enforcement members accountable for our actions. However, with the hard work of the members of the Richmond Police Department, the ongoing support from our community, and city government leadership, things started to take shape.
I was hired as a change agent to establish a professional police department. We did this in part by doing three important things:
First, we rededicated ourselves to living our mission statement, which is as follows:
“The Richmond Police Department in Partnership with the community consistently strives to deliver the highest level of professional law enforcement, with full respect for human dignity, and according to the highest standards of professional skill, integrity, and accountability.”
Second, we achieved accreditation from the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police in 2019:
Accreditation is a progressive and time-proven way of helping institutions evaluate and improve their overall performance. The cornerstone of this strategy lies in the promulgation of standards containing a clear statement of professional objectives. When the procedures are in place, a team of independent professionals is assigned to verify that all applicable standards have been successfully implemented. The process culminates with a decision by an authoritative body that the institution is worthy of accreditation.
The Richmond Police Department has tried on and off over the last 20 years to achieve accreditation and failed. With a lot of hard work and dedication from the men and women of the department, we finally achieved it in 2019, and we are maintaining those standards today.
Third, we established a community policing philosophy:
A community policing philosophy was put into place from the top to bottom of the department, noting that community policing is not a program or just for a few officers but provides excellent customer service and partnering with all segments of our community.
From 2017-2020 the department has participated in over 200 community-based events. These events have reached out to every segment of the Richmond community. The community policing philosophy has been embraced at all department levels and now is an established way of life within the Richmond Police Department.
As part of our community policing philosophy, we have dedicated ourselves to transparency. We have made accountability a pillar of our department’s culture. We have held ourselves accountable from the top to the bottom of the organization.
Once the department readily accepted these ideas, a new Richmond Police Department was established. As a result, reported crime (Part I) in the city has gone down approximately 28 percent between 2016-2020. This reduction is the sole result of community partnerships and proactive policing strategies.
Citizen satisfaction and confidence in the department have also increased significantly. Yet, more work is being done, and I wish incoming Interim Chief Rodney Richardson even more success in keeping this community safe. To all, it has been an honor to serve you.
James Ebert-Retired
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