There’s a new sheriff in town, well at least a new police chief in Osawatomie. Starting Saturday, Chief David Ellis will step down and accept a new position with the city of Osawatomie as the nuisance enforcement officer. Ellis’ primary responsibilities will be to start imposing the city’s nuisance ordinances and to heavily utilize our enforcement process. This position, coupled with the city’s new fix-it form, will allow the city to prioritize issues that are major citizen concerns. This will make it more efficient to track issues as well provide the manpower to ensure they are getting taken care of.
Interim City Manager Mike Smith, has appointed veteran law officer David Stuteville as the departments next police chief. Smith says Stuteville has demonstrated strong leadership abilities to him during his time with the city, and his broad experience within the department, as well as his strong ties with the Osawatomie community, will help make him an effective police chief. The formal swearing in ceremony will be held at the city council meeting on October 24th.
