(UPDATED) New Police Chief to be Named Monday Night

The City of Smithville may soon have a new Police Chief.
During Monday night’s regular monthly meeting of the Board of Aldermen, Mayor Jimmy Poss is to make a recommendation on the hiring of a new chief from the three applicants who have applied. The aldermen are then expected to take a vote.
The applicants are Mark Collins, Gary Harris, and Matt Farmer. Collins is currently the Alexandria Police Chief. Harris , a former member of the Smithville Police Department, serves as the Algood Police Chief. Farmer is a patrolman for the Smithville Police Department.
The mayor and aldermen held a 90 minute forum Saturday at city hall to interview each applicant. Collins, Harris, and Farmer were brought in separately and given about 30 minutes each to answer questions.
Collins, a resident of McMinnville Highway, Smithville, has served as Police Chief for the City of Alexandria since 2006. Prior to that he worked for the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department from 1995 through 2006, where over the years he served as deputy, sergeant, lieutenant, and then captain. Collins was a Sergeant in the United States Air Force from 1988-90. He graduated from Gordonsville High School in 1983 and attended David Lipscomb University in Nashville from 1983-85.
“I’m a person who likes to be seen in the community not just in the police department,” Collins told the mayor and aldermen during his interview. ” I want people to know that they can come up and say “Hey Chief Collins, can you help me out?” Where I’m at now (Alexandria) people call me all the time and say things like “Hey, we’re going to be out of town next week can you do an extra patrol?”. You know it’s the little things like that. And I’m sure that happens here but I believe once you gain the trust of the community as a leader, they expect that to go down to the police officers and over a period of time when that does, once you gain the trust of the community you can do just about anything as a police department,” Collins continued.
“There are a whole lot of people in Smithville and there are only a few of us (officers) and when all of those eyes and ears get information to us we can get a lot done. The investigative side of any department is very important because your patrol officers are answering calls and writing reports. But the detective or investigation side of any department has to be your go-getters. They are the ones who have to get out and scratch and claw, go talk, and put the pieces of the puzzle together. There may be pieces of that puzzle missing so they are the ones who has to find them. That’s what I enjoy doing. I enjoy the drug (investigation) work. I enjoy the detective work. I like to work closely with them (detectives). I know as a Chief you have other obligations and you have an entire city to manage but staying in good communication with your detectives and prioritizing what cases we need to work on is important and then when drugs arise after you gain the trust of the community and people feel like they can tell us (police) something then we can work on the drugs (problem) because we’re going to be getting information. We know it already. I mean if you do your homework, you’re going to know who is doing what (drug activity) but that little bit on intel (intelligence) from the public might give us the piece of the puzzle we need to make a bust or to get a buy and go from there,” said Collins
Harris has worked for the Algood Police Department since 2004 where he has risen in the ranks from patrolman to detective, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, and now chief of police. Harris worked for the Smithville Police Department from 2001 to 2004 where he served as patrolman, detective, and sergeant. Harris began his law enforcement career in 1987 as a patrolman for the Cookeville Police Department. From there he went to work for the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy in 1994. The following year Harris became owner and private investigator of Investigations Unlimited. Four years later the Monterey Police Department hired him as a patrolman. He was later promoted to detective and sergeant. Harris served in the United States Navy as a Personnelman 3rd Class from 1983 to 1986. He graduated from Putnam County Senior High School in 1983 and attended the City College of Texas and City College of Chicago in 1985. Harris is a resident of Cookeville.
“I have dedicated my life to law enforcement,” said Harris during his interview. ” I worked in Smithville from 2001 to 2004. I loved it here. I love the people. I love the community. I love the police department. When I saw that you had an opening I thought I’d like to come back. I am a strong believer in community oriented policing. We do several programs now in Algood for the community. We work around the schools quite a bit. We work with the churches. We’re just out there all the time trying to make a difference. I’d like to do that here. I did some detective work when I was here in Smithville. I worked well with the TBI drug task force guys and I still have an active program now dealing with a lot of prescription drugs in Algood. We do the best we can with it. I’d like to see it (drugs) all gone. When I was here before drugs were a big issue. We can work with the TBI drug task force guys and they will bring us up to speed on all the new and latest, greatest stuff to do everything we can to get rid of it,” said Harris.
Farmer has been a member of the Smithville Police Department since February, 2008. In addition to patrolman, Officer Farmer serves as General Department Instructor and is responsible for the training of all officers. Farmer began his law enforcement career with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department in Cookeville in August 1993 where over the years he served as correctional officer, assistant jail administrator, patrol officer, school resource officer, lieutenant/jail administrator, and criminal investigator. From October 2006 until February 2008 Farmer worked for the White County Sheriff’s Department in Sparta where he served as patrol officer and narcotics investigator. Farmer graduated from Lookout Valley High School at Chattanooga in 1986 and attended Tennessee Tech in Cookeville from 1986-88. He resides in Cookeville.
“I love what I do. I love helping people,” Officer Farmer told the mayor and aldermen during his interview. ” I fully believe in protecting and serving. I think we’ve lost some of the serving part over time. I think there is a grand opportunity in Smithville. We have a lot of trust in the community already. I’m not afraid to go out and talk to people and get answers that we need to make this a better community. This is what I was prepared to do was be a police officer. And I have learned a lot and studied hard. I am at a point in my career where I can take these young men that we have in the department now and guide them in a direction that you want to see in your community. A police department you want to see and a relationship with the people in the community. When you (mayor and aldermen) look back at the end of your tenure I want you to be able to say we made a good decision (hiring new chief). To be able to say this is a place that my grandkids, my kids, and my parents feel safe. That’s what I’d like to bring to Smithville,” said Officer Farmer.
All three applicants pledged to have better communication within the police department, to work well with other local and state law enforcement agencies, and to have more involvement with the schools and community.
The new police chief will succeed former chief Randy Caplinger who was ousted earlier this year by the mayor and majority of the aldermen and who lost a court battle for reinstatement or back pay last Thursday. Captain Steven Leffew has been acting as Officer in Charge of the Police Department in the absence of a chief.