Interim McCordsville police chief voted in permanently

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Paul Casey

McCORDSVILLE — The McCordsville police official who’s been leading the department in an interim capacity since January will soon officially take over as chief.

The McCordsville Metropolitan Board of Police Commissioners voted 4-0 to recommend and offer Maj. Paul Casey the chief’s position last week. Casey’s appointment is effective Aug. 1, and he will be sworn in on Aug. 19.

“I was glad to know that moving forward I was going to be able to continue in helping the department and helping the officers and helping the town move forward,” Casey told the Daily Reporter.

Casey said he’ll continue to identify local needs and provide police services that address those needs.

“My goal is to try to integrate better in the community, to understand what the community’s needs are,” he said.

He’ll continue focusing his efforts inward as well by recruiting the best available officers and getting them trained “so those officers can then provide public safety and support to the town at the highest level possible,” he said.

Mark Walker, president of the board of police commissioners, told the Daily Reporter in an email that the board received 13 applications. Board members felt Casey was the best candidate to continue the department’s progress over the past few months, Walker said.

Casey will replace Harold Rodgers, who had been on medical and administrative leave since the beginning of the year before reaching a retirement settlement with the town in June. Casey took over on an interim basis while Rodgers was out.

“(Casey’s) fresh new ideas, initiatives and officer buy-in were all determining factors,” Walker said. “The department had been in a fragile state after Chief Rodgers’ departure, and interim Chief Casey weathered that storm and brought the department through and we are now poised for rapid growth both in the town and police department.”

Walker said Casey brings stability to the position without the step back that could have occurred by bringing in a new chief from outside the department.

Casey has extensive experience with departmental budgeting and working with limited resources relative to surrounding departments, Walker continued. He added Casey also received a glowing letter of recommendation from the McCordsville Town Council.

Casey, who has been with the McCordsville Police Department for almost 27 years, garnered support from fellow officers.

The settlement with Rodgers will pay him the full chief’s position compensation from April 30, 2019, through Aug. 1, 2019. Rodgers will retire from the police department in good standing on Aug. 1. He was hired in 1990 and was McCordsville’s only police chief until Casey’s recent appointment.