Local
By Justin McClelland
Staff Writer
LEBANON — The new chief of police here said he is committed to ensuring the police department is highly educated and prepared in their duty to keep citizens safe.
Jeff Mitchell was sworn in as the chief of police for Lebanon on Friday, replacing Chief Ken Burns, who retired after 21 years in the position.
For Mitchell, becoming chief is the culmination of a lifelong dream to be a police officer.
“I wanted to be a police officer for as long as I could remember,” Mitchell said. “I always thought it was the most fascinating job. Something different everyday. It really appealed to me.”
Mitchell’s father was in the Air Force. After growing up in Central Illinois, Mitchell also enrolled in the Air Force, where he served in the OSI, the Air Force’s police agency, for 15 years. During that time, he traveled the world while also investigating narcotics and fraud. He spent a year in South Korea and met the South Korean President.
Mitchell’s last station with the Air Force was at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Although he didn’t plan to stay in Ohio after leaving the Air Force, he met his wife, Julie, while stationed here. After retiring from the Air Force, the two moved to Lebanon, where he also joined the police department in 1998. Since then, Mitchell has held nearly every role in the department, from Patrolman to Staff Sergeant to Detective.
“Jeff is an awesome human being,” said Arla Tannehill, who works in Lebanon with the Warren County Area Progress Council. “He is honest and sincere about everything he does. He’s the kind of guy who outwardly seems quiet but he makes things happen.”
Mitchell said some of his primary goals as chief will be to encourage professional development and continuing education among his staff, and looking for collaborative opportunities with other police departments, government agencies and private groups to help save rapidly diminishing government dollars.
Mitchell said he wanted to continue to keep Lebanon on the cutting edge of handling cyber-crimes, noting one officer with the department had been assigned to FBI offices specifically to learn and help combat crimes that involved computers.
“Almost every crime these days involves a cyber-device,” Mitchell said. “But technology also provides police departments with many proactive tools that can help us solve crime and save us both time and money.”
Mitchell, who serves on the Board for the National Association of Mental Illness, said he also wants to update the department on ways of dealing with mentally ill people.
“That area is somewhat uncharted territory for law enforcement,” Mitchell said. “In the past, you could either walk away from a situation or arrest a person, and neither of those are the right answer. It’s a challenge we need to tackle to understand the effects mental illness can play in a community.”
Mitchell’s staff said they are excited to be working with a man they view as a strong and perceptive leader.
“He’s well suited to the job,” said Sgt. Bob Buchanan of the Lebanon Police Department. “I’ve worked with him as a supervisor and I’ve served under him. He brings a lot of integrity to the job. He will be a very community-oriented police chief.”
Mitchell said becoming chief has always been a goal of his and he hopes his tenure as chief makes a positive impact on the community of Lebanon.
“I feel like being chief, I have the opportunity to take a good police department with wonderful people dedicated to serving the community and put my mark on it to make it even better,” Mitchell said.
Contact this reporter (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.