Killeen's new police chief will be sworn in Friday at the department's headquarters.
Charles Kimble will be joined by family, friends and colleagues during his swearing-in ceremony.
Last week, he passed his Texas Commission on law Enforcement test and became a certified Texas police officer.
Kimble has more than 25 years of law enforcement experience, including five years as assistant police chief in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Most recently, he was the police chief in Spring Lake, North Carolina.
“Mr. Kimble is uniquely qualified to serve the Killeen community because of his experience in Fayetteville, another military city,” Killeen City Manager Ron Olson said over the summer. “I look forward to his joining our leadership team and the positive impact he will make with the Killeen Police Department.”
Chief Kimble was hired after a nationwide search that netted 42 applicants, who were whittled down to six finalists. Hartung Consulting was hired to conduct the search on the city's behalf.
Assistant Police Chief Margaret Young became interim police chief in October 2016, after Police Chief Dennis Baldwin became interim city manager and then assistant city manager. Young did not seek the police position permanently, paving the way for Kimble's hiring.
“The number one thing that we’re going to focus on, everything that we do, every piece of paper that we work on, every project that we work on is going to work to drive down crime numbers,” Kimble told Channel 6 in September.
He will face a number of challenges – among them a limited budgets and possible cutbacks on city resources. However, he said he is focused on making sure no officers are taken off the streets and is working on a plan to put more law enforcement on the ground.
“We may have to look at people’s responsibilities, I think as we look to put more officers on the streets and re-look at our specialized positions,” Kimble said. “we can come up with a comprehensive plan to put more officers on the street to combat crime.”
Part of Kimble’s plan for making Killeen a safer city is opening up the line of communications with the community to establish a sense of trust between the police department and the people it serves.
“You have to be transparent in everything you do, in your deeds, in your communication,” he said. “You have to open the door and let the community know there’s a game plan.”
Kimble is no stranger to working side by side with a military community, having worked in close proximity to Fort Bragg for over two decades. It was one of the things that drew him to Central Texas in the first place.
“When I saw that posting for Killeen, I thought wow this is the perfect job for you,” he said. “I have spent the majority of my career in a military town, dealing with military issues, I am married to a military member, my son is in the military.”