Concordia Police Chief Daniel Parker has resigned to become police chief in Winfield, city officials here have confirmed.
Parker told city officials in Concordia that he will depart July 22, according to a news report in Concordia. Winfield’s new chief attended college here and the area is closer to home, he said in a news report Monday.
Parker, 60, has held his current position since the fall of 2005 and has two decades of experience with the Wichita Police Dept., according to media reports at the time of his hiring there.
In 1997, he became an instructor with the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center.
Winfield city commissioner Tom McNeish acknowledged a new chief had been hired and said he expected a written statement to come from city manager Warren Porter.
Porter could not be reached for comment late Monday.
McNeish said he had heard a number of positive things about Parker from the city’s search committee.
"I haven’t met him yet, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about him," McNeish said. "Everything has been real positive so far."
The move marks the first time in decades that a candidate from outside the department has been hired as chief. Larry Dobbs and Jerry DeVore – the two most recent chiefs – had spent years with the Winfield department.
The Concordia Blade-Empire newspaper first reported Parker’s departure on its Web site Monday.
Click here to read the story.
