Salem’s new Police Chief will be officially sworn in at Monday night’s city council meeting. A meet and greet with Todd Boles is scheduled for 5:30 at City Hall, ahead of the council meeting at six.
Boles began work last Monday and says he has found everyone very welcoming. He notes that one of his priority projects, starting a lateral transfer program to allow experienced officers to transfer into the program, has already been put into place by Deputy Chief Tyler Rose. He reports there are several lateral applicants.
“The academy is sixteen weeks now, so right off the bat, you’re almost four months done, then you’ve got somebody that’s got at least some skill and training,” Boles said. “You save the money on that, you save the sixteen weeks, and get people on the road. We’ve been doing laterals forever in Charleston, and usually you can get them out on the FTO [field training officer] program. They’ll still go in the FTO program, but you can usually get them out early on that too.”
Boles says the laterals could save a total of 4 to 5 months in getting an officer on the street. That’s important as the department is currently down five officers due to transfers to other departments and retirements.
Boles says he will be handling budgeting and the overall direction of the department, while Rose, as deputy chief, will be handling day-to-day operations, and the patrol and detective divisions.
Boles has had one setback. The home he was in the process of buying was damaged in the storms and flooding two weeks ago. Boles is currently working through that issue, but can stay at his parents’ new home. They have also moved back to Salem from Florida, with Boles taking the Police Chief’s job. Boles retired as a lieutenant from the Charleston Police Department.
