Bonifay names new police chief

BONIFAY- Bonifay City Council members voted unanimously to hire Holmes County Sheriff's Office Chief Investigator, Lt. Chris Wells, as the new Bonifay City Police Chief at a special called council meeting on Feb. 6 at noon at City Hall.

Mayor James "Eddie" Sims and Council had selected six applicants to be interviewed for the position. Sims recommended Wells for the position.

Two applicants withdrew from consideration, Harry Hamilton and Dennis Lee. Hamilton will remain at the Holmes County Sheriff’s Office and Lee will take a position with the Bay County Sheriff’s Department. The other candidates were Graceville Assistant Chief Johnny Whitaker, State Trooper Jason French and Diane Land of the State Attorney's Office.

"Mayor Sims called me immediately after the vote," Wells said.

"I am excited and I'm looking forward to making changes for a better department. I'm looking forward to having a department meeting and getting feedback from the department about ideas and to implement new ideas." Wells plans to standardize policy and procedures.

Wells is a native Holmes Countian and graduated from Holmes County High School in 1996. He earned a BA in criminal justice and sociology from Troy University - Dothan.

Wells was hired as a road deputy with the HCSO in 2000 and was appointed as an investigator in 2001. He was promoted to lieutenant and chief investigator in 2005.

Wells said he would work closely with the sheriff's office and other agencies.

"I'm looking forward to keeping a good working relationship with the sheriff's office and surrounding departments," Wells said. "As they always say, crime has no boundary lines."

Wells said he saw the chief's position as a chance to advance. "I wanted to get more leadership experience and to put my education and background to use to better the department. I know people in the community have talked about improvements in the department."

The four applicants were interviewed and considered on the following points: education, certification, law enforcement experience, special skills, mutual emergency aide, interview questions and cooperation with mayor and Council as the employer and the Mayor as the immediate supervisor.

"His education was a major consideration," Sims said. "I liked the fact that he had a BA in criminal justice.

"All of the candidates had a great attitude and the choice was so close, but Chris was so obviously positive and was ready to work with Council. He has also worked with kids in school and that's very important. I said, let's take advantage of that."

Wells will be sworn in on Feb. 9 at the regular council meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.