mycinews.com

Deputy chief in Peoria Heights recommended for Chilli’s ‘top cop’

Mayor Troy Childers has made his decision on who will succeed Steven Maurer as the head of the Chillicothe Police Department. The appointment is scheduled to be voted on by the Chillicothe City Council on Feb. 13. Scott Metille, 36, the assistant police chief in Peoria Heights, has been tapped to become the new chief of police for Chillicothe.
According to Childers, the employee relations committee, himself and Police and Fire Committee chair Ald. Judith Cantwell conducted interviews and settled on four finalists for the position. They included Metille, interim chief Danny Adcock, Rich Mark, and one other individual.

“We wanted to make a clean break from everything that happened in the past and take a new path forward,” Childers said. “Scott really seemed to stand out because of his youthfulness and his experience from being deputy chief in Peoria Heights. I just didn’t think that Danny (Adcock) was ready to be chief yet,” Childers said.
“Rich Mark is retiring soon and really didn’t have his heart set on being chief. Rich did an excellent job as acting chief for us last year.” Childers declined to mention the fourth finalist for the job because they are employed for another police department and said he respected their right to privacy.

Metille recently built a new home in Rome, is active in his local church, and is the father of two young children. “He’s like a Josh Cooper (superintendent of Public Works) in that he is young, aggressive and wants to do some new things for the city,” the mayor said.
Metille’s wife was born and raised in Chillicothe, after meeting Metille, she began missing her hometown. Metille first looked at the Chilicothe Police Department for employment, however at that time, there weren’t any officer positions open.
According to Metille, he instead applied to the Peoria Heights Police Department and they hired him as an officer in 2001, where he worked his way to detective and was then promoted to deputy chief. His aspiration from the very beginning was to become police chief. Once he and his family moved back to the area, Metille said he knew one day there might be an opportunity with the Chillicothe police. He also said that chief Sean Dutton of the Peoria Heights Police Department was very supportive of his goals and Metille looked upon him as his mentor. 
Metille said he very much wants to be a part of the community and has a positive outlook for the future. He said his plans are to reintroduce the Chillicothe police officers to the community, show off the department in a better light, and let the community know that it’s not us against them.
He said he also plans to organize neighborhood watch groups that would meet once a month. He wants his officers to become more involved and make sure that they all can provide support for the town’s youth.
“This is a very exciting time in Chillicothe”, he said. “I am  looking forward to being able to share ideas and experiences not only with his officers, but with our community.”
The Chillicothe City Council is expected to vote on the mayor’s recommendation at its next meeting on Monday, Feb. 13. “We followed the proper procedures and I feel like we have made the right choice for the City of Chillicothe,” mayor Childers said.
Childers said the appointment will not come without opposition from at least one alderman on the council who was advocating for another candidate to get the chief’s position. He did not elaborate any further, but announced on Monday morning that he would be addressing this issue in a press release at the end of the week.

• < Prev
• Next >