Ellis hires McCracken native as police chief
By BRANDON WORF
The city of Ellis has taken the final steps in hiring a new police chief, and made its final decision last night at the city's bi-monthly council meeting.
The council unanimously voted to hire Randy Taylor of Loveland, Colo., as the new chief of police after a lengthy candidate selection and interview process.
"I'm very pleased to be hired for this position," Taylor said this morning. "There were two very qualified applicants from the Ellis Police Department that I feel were just as deserving of this, and I'm kind of surprised neither of them were selected."
Taylor, a native of McCracken, has 28 years of experience in the law-enforcement field and is serving at the Jefferson County Sheriff's office.
"After last night's appointment, I'll be serving my last two weeks at Jefferson County and trying to sell my house at the same time," Taylor said. "After that point, I will move to Ellis and officially take over."
After obtaining his degree in criminal justice from St. Mary's College, Taylor was an officer in Dodge City for four years, then obtained his master's degree in business from the University of Phoenix. He is pursuing his doctorate in organizational leadership from the same institution and has extensive service experience from Loveland.
"I've worked as a division head and line supervisor, among other things," Taylor said.
He also has experience as the head of several different divisions, including units dealing with narcotics, gangs and specialized K-9 units.
Taylor found the position after seeing an advertisement from the city of Ellis with the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
After undergoing background and history checks and numerous interviews, Taylor was selected for the job. And he's surprised with what they have to offer.
"After reviewing what the department has, I'm really pleased, and pleasantly surprised, to see that there's some very qualified personnel on the department," Taylor said. "For a town this small, it's great to see this caliber of individuals on the staff."
While Taylor can't quite comment on what he expects to do once in the position, he did say things probably won't change much.
"Maybe just a few administrative changes here and there," he said. "But overall, I don't expect things to change a whole lot."
