It's been one week under new leadership at the Auburn Police Department. Shawn Butler's appointment comes after former Chief Brian Neagle retired amid calls to step down. Butler sat down with reporter Iris St. Meran to talk about what his priorities are for the department.
AUBURN, N.Y. -- Shawn Butler has been police chief in Auburn for one week. But he is just a month away from marking 20 years of service in the department.
"I've been a police officer,” Butler said, “I've held numerous roles within that: an evidence technician, video forensics. You name it, if I could get involved with it. I definitely tried it out."
He believes being well rounded will help him in this new role as chief. Butler comes into this role after a challenging year in the department. His predecessor, Brian Neagle retired last month. Back in January, Neagle received a vote of no confidence from the Auburn police union. Union leaders cited deceptive action and poor leadership.
More than 90 percent of members voted in favor of the motion. Butler's formula for rebuilding bridges with his officers is inclusion.
"I want to engage each and everyone one of them on a one-on-one basis," Butler said. "I want them to prepare, start thinking about what they believe our department is lacking, what they feel is important, where they envision our police department to be and what they expect of me."
In addition to working on team morale, Butler said he also wants to focus on community relations and having officers more visible and accessible to residents.
"I would encourage the public to engage us. If they ever feel, if they don't feel their level of service; whatever it may be," Butler said.
He said one of the biggest challenges in the city is combating the heroin epidemic and within the police department, its staffing levels. But, he said he thinks they are doing well school resource program. And, as he continues in this role, Butler plans to improve in all these areas.
The chief said the Auburn Police Department is active on social media. He encourages the public to connect with officers on Facebook, by stopping by or whichever way they feel comfortable.