Saltillo police chief Bailey resigns
May 18—SALTILLO — After spending the last eight years leading the Saltillo Police Department, Police Chief Grant Bailey turned in his resignation Monday.
His last day will be May 31.
"I was looking for a change in my life for personal reasons," Bailey said. "The new administration coming in had nothing to do with this. I have been doing some soul searching for the last few months and thinking about getting out of law enforcement for a while.
"Being a police officer is a calling and right now, something else is calling me."
He did not say what he plans to do.
On Monday, the Saltillo Board of Aldermen accepted Bailey's resignation letter. During a special meeting, Tuesday, aldermen voted to name Bill Roberts as interim chief and to begin advertising to fill the open chief's slot.
Other than a brief stint as a part-time officer at Guntown, Bailey's entire career has been with the Saltillo Police Department. He started off in 2004 as a reserve officer, went to the police academy and was hired as a certified officer.
"I started at the bottom of the totem pole and was able to move my way up," Bailey said.
He started as a patrol officer, was a DUI officer for four years and the department's K-9 officer. He had been a sergeant for three years when opportunity smiled on him.
Former chief Steve Brooks retired in 2013 after an unsuccessful mayoral bid. When the assistant chief was suspended, Bailey was the department's commanding officer. Aldermen named him chief in July 2013.
"It was a big jump (being promoted to chief) I will tell you," Bailey said. "Over the last eight years, there have been a lot of things on my plate."
While the responsibilities of the job have kept him busy, Bailey has always strived to reach out to the community, both citizens and businesses. Those relationships allowed the department to start several outreach programs.
Food drives turned into annual events where the department would hand out food boxes during the holidays. Donations from citizens and businesses led to the department giving away turkeys and hams at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
To help drive youth involvement and consider careers in law enforcement, Bailey oversaw the creation of the annual Kids & Cops event at city park as well as Tiger Explorers, a program to introduce youth ages 12-18 to what law enforcement does. It also stresses character-building and community service.
Bailey said he tried to time his resignation to allow the new city administration a chance to put their stamp on the future of Saltillo's police department.
In July, the city will have a new mayor (Copey Grantham) and two new aldermen (Brian Morgan and Sonya Hill Witcher). As the search begins for a new chief, Grantham will sit in on the meetings with outgoing mayor Rex Smith and take over if the search lasts beyond June. The board also placed Scotty Clark on the hiring committee to replace the outgoing Donald Cullum.
One of the first things the new chief will have to do is to select an assistant chief. Just one day after Bailey turned in his resignation, current Assistant Police Chief Chris Joshlin turned in his two-week notice. Bailey said Joshlin has 22 years with Saltillo PD. With overtime and having worked at other agencies, he was eligible for state retirement.
