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January 20, 2005
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January 20, 2005 |
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Carl Bush stepping down as police chief
Carl Bush handed in his resignation earlier this month as the chief of police of the Yellow Springs Police Department, just over a year after joining the force. Bush’s last official day with the department will be Feb. 6. He notified Village Manager Rob Hillard of the decision on Jan. 6, and informed the Police Department in a memo dated Jan. 12. Captain John Grote has been appointed the interim police chief. Grote also headed the department on an interim basis in 2003, after former Chief Jim Miller stepped down. Bush said on Wednesday that he is resigning because of personal reasons having to do with potential changes to his family that, he said, are “for the best of my children,” and would have made it difficult for him to honor the residency requirement in his contract. Bush is required to live within 10 minutes of Yellow Springs. “My children are number one,” he said. Bush has three children, a 5-year-old son, a 7-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old daughter. He did not want to elaborate on familial circumstances leading to his resignation. “It wasn’t an easy decision, and it wasn’t a decision I came to without a lot of thought, a lot of debate and a lot of sleepless nights,” he said. Bush, who is 46, has accepted a position with the Butler Township Police Department, where he will serve as a captain/assistant chief. He said he was contacted by Butler Township about the job and did not seek it himself. The job opening with Butler Township came at an opportune time, Bush said, since he was facing a potential dilemma with his residency requirement. Bush said his decision to resign had nothing to do with the Police Department. “I was happy here,” he said, adding, “I could have seen myself retiring here.” Hillard said that he respects Bush’s decision to leave the department. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Carl. I think he did a fantastic job for the Village,” Hillard said. Bush was hired in the fall of 2003 after a seven-month search process that Hillard led. Bush, who has worked in law enforcement for 27 years, replaced Miller as the permanent chief on Dec. 1 of that year. The Village will begin advertising for a new chief soon, Hillard said on Monday. He said that he anticipates using a process similar to the one he developed in 2003 when he hired Bush. As it did in 2003, the current search process will include forming a committee to assist with the search and a public forum where the community can meet the finalists for the job. Hillard said that he also plans to use a list of qualities, developed by the 2003 Village Police Chief Search Committee, that the ideal chief should have, including being tolerant of people of different races, gender and ages, as well as having well-rounded managerial qualities and work experiences. Yellow Springers interested in serving on the search committee should contact Hillard at 767-1279 or rhillard@yso.com. Hillard said he does not yet have a firm timeline for the search process, including when a new chief will be hired. “We will be diligent,” he said. “It’s to our advantage to select a chief as soon as possible. But the process is important.” Bush’s first year with the Police Department was a tumultuous one. In February 2004, just over two months after he came on board here, the body of Tim Lopez, who had been missing since 2002, was found in the backyard of a classmate, Michael Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse has since been charged with murder and is awaiting trial later this spring. In April, Bush was in charge of security when the Ku Klux Klan conducted a literature drive downtown. Bush coordinated about 125 law enforcement officers from 14 jurisdictions and 49 firefighters and EMS personnel from six jurisdictions, including Miami Township. In July, downtown Xenia Avenue was shut down for several hours after a car caused a major accident, hitting several vehicles and sending three people to the hospital. Finally, last month, Yellow Springs resident Timothy Harris was found murdered in his home. The case remains under investigation. In an interview with the News last month, Bush described 2004 as an “eye-opening experience” in terms of “what I felt we needed and what people who work here felt we needed.” For instance, he said that he had begun initiating changes in the Police Department, including increasing officers’ training, such as baton, firearms, issuing reports and bias-based prevention training. In addition, Bush focused on procuring and updating equipment, including new light bars on the police cruisers, cameras in the cruisers, bulletproof vests and automated external defibrillators. This year Bush planned to replace the department’s firearms. In the interview this week, Bush said that he “felt like I was accomplishing a lot” and had had success by upgrading equipment and addressing training needs that were “past due.” “I hope there’s been a little bit of a cultural change for the Police Department, an improvement in [officers’] professionalism,” he said. Hillard said that the time Bush spent with the Village has been “very productive,” noting the work the chief has done to address training and policy issues. Bush’s career in law enforcement started when at 19 he began working as a dispatcher for the Trotwood Police Department. In 1981 he was hired as a full-time patrol officer with Trotwood, where he worked until he came to Yellow Springs. During his tenure at Trotwood, he worked his way up from patrol officer to patrol sergeant, detective sergeant and sergeant.
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