BYRON — At its meeting on March 6, the Byron City Council and Mayor John Rickard recognized retiring Byron Police Department Chief Todd Murray for his 24 years of service to the community. Murray has 39 years of service total in law enforcement.
“I guess when you know it's time, you know it's time,” Murray said. “It's time for somebody else to take the reins. There's been a lot of change in law enforcement. Those changes have accelerated over the past few years. We need new blood now to learn all of the new things that need to happen here.”
Murray and his family have called Byron home since 1985. He said the average length of service of a police chief is about eight years, and that he was lucky to stick around longer than that. He’s seen officers hired, retire, and move on to different positions.
“We've had quite a bit of turnover over the years with good kids coming in and then taking opportunities at larger departments,” Murray said. “It's good to see that we maybe had a little bit of a hand in getting them started and headed in the right direction.”
Murray has seen policing change, including training mandates for officers. He’s also gotten used to policing in a small community and having a wide array of responsibilities.
“The part that's different about policing in a small town is, you get to do everything,” Murray said. “You don't have special units to do this, that or the other thing. It's all on the chief's shoulders to get stuff done. That has been enjoyable at times.”
Murray said his retirement plans include spending time with family, finding new hobbies and spending time outdoors.
At the March 6 meeting, 26-year BPD veteran and Sgt. Jeremy Boehle was appointed to replace Murray.
“I was very happy that they made that decision to promote Jeremy,” Murray said. “He will do great. He's connected in the community. I think they made a great choice, keeping the continuity. It will be different to not be in this role in the community anymore. But they say change is good. Jeremy will run with his new role.”
