Mt. Washington Police Department appoints new police chief

MT. WASHINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- There's a new chief at the Mt. Washington Police Department.

Chief Tim Morris has been with the department for his entire law enforcement career, nearly 15 years. Two months ago, he was promoted to chief.

He sat down with WDRB News on Thursday, saying he's thankful for the opportunity to be chief of the department.

"I've never seen so many good policemen in one location," he said.

Morris said there are more than 20 officers currently with the department.

"We're not going to micromanage them. We allow them to go out and do what they know to do," he added.

Throughout his career with Mt. Washington Police, Morris says he's seen changes and says his officers are stepping up.

Chief Tim Morris, Mt. Washington PD — Mt. Washington Police Chief Tim Morris

"Probably the biggest thing is that fact that when I started, it seemed to be, if you got somebody with a little bit of marijuana, you had a big bust. Now, you're dealing with so much more in the drug category and thefts and car thefts. Around here, we didn't see all that 14, 12, 10 years ago," he said. "Now with the way drugs are today -- heroin, cocaine, meth -- you're just getting to see a whole lot more of it and it's worse.

"The guys are out there making traffic stops constantly."

Larger agencies like Louisville Metro Police and Indiana State Police have said recruitment numbers are low. On a smaller scale, Mt. Washington tells a similar story.

Morris said people from other departments are moving laterally to Mt. Washington, but new recruits are hard to find.

"We actually just had a recruit application and we only had three apply," said Morris. "When I applied in 2007 we had, I think, 52 applicants."

Morris' promotion isn't the only recent move within the department.

Several were just promoted to sergeant and there's a new detective. Morris said one more person will be hired in December.

Morris said his message to the community is: "If you need us, we're here for you and we appreciate the support we do get from them."