New chief officially sworn-in

With his parents, friends and the entire Libby Police Department present in a show of support, Terry Watson was officially sworn in as Libby’s new Chief of Police at the City Council meeting Tuesday evening.

Libby residents D.C. Orr, Bill Cunnane and Rob Hubbard all addressed the council in reference to Watson’s appointment. All three expressed their support of the decision.

“There’s no man who is more honorable than Terry Watson,” Cunnane told the members of the council.

“I’m just glad all of that is over and we can move forward,” Watson said. “It meant a lot to me that the community people who spoke to the council were positive.”

Watson’s first official act as Chief of Police was to promote Officer Darren Short to Patrol Sergeant, Watson’s position before his promotion to chief.

Watson said his biggest priority for the department is to focus more on community-oriented policing, making himself and his officers more available to the community and more approachable.

“I want to be approachable, try to be out in the community and in the schools,” Watson said. “Officer Short, now Sergeant Short, goes out and has lunch with the kids at Head Start. I want to do more of that, so the kids know the police are here to help, so they come to us instead of run from us.”

Funding is another issue Watson hopes to address as chief. He expressed his respect for the Troy Police Department and their mayor for working to find different ways to fund the department. Troy recently secured three new police cars for the price of one by taking advantage of a state grant. Watson hopes to put his department in a position to do similar things.

“I want to do more research on grants and find additional funding sources for the department,” he said.

More than anything else, Watson said it is important for him to maintain his involvement in the community.

“I’ve been here for more than 20 years,” he said. “I just want to make sure I’m available to the public.”