Beyer hoping fourth time’s a charm as police chief in Moulton

(Editor's Note: This article contains corrected information from the printed version of this story that was provided at 8:38 p.m. Wednesday, June 22, by former Chief Mitchell Bennett, that dealt specifically with the parts of the story pertaining to his salary.)

Members of the Moulton city council met in special session Tuesday, June 7, to accept the resignation of Police Chief Mitchell Bennett and name, once again, Daniel Beyer as interim chief of the Moulton Police Department.

As part of a discussion on the lack of available officer candidates to bring to Moulton, Bennett informed the city council last month that he had applied to the Hallettsville Police Department. 

He already completed his interview process by the time the May 24 special called meeting rolled around. The background check was all that remained, and that wouldn’t occur until Hallettsville Police Chief Randy Schlauch returned from vacation through the first days of June.

Still, after hearing of the difficulties the chief was facing finding officers—there wasn’t a single soul enrolled in police academy at both Victoria College and Wharton County Junior College who wasn’t already committed to another larger department when they graduated, based on what Bennett said then. 

Plus, as he sought to fill his own departmental needs for both regular patrol officers and part-time/reserve officers, Bennett said he faced another problem altogether. 

“I’m essentially competing with every police department in the area when it comes to recruiting and keeping good and qualified officers in Moulton,” he said, adding that there were more than two dozen job openings at the various police departments and sheriff’s offices in the area.

Not only does each department pay significantly more than Bennett was authorized to spend, but each was also situated within a half hour of Moulton, he said.

Council was sensitive to what Bennett shared. Based on the concerns he raised at the May 10 meeting, a discussion of police department wages and benefits was added to the May 24 special called meeting agenda. After working through several tedious and time-consuming line by line examinations of a few key health and safety ordinance by the city attorney—during which no official changes in policy were approved—councilmembers broke for a rare closed-door meeting to discuss possible wage increases and other perks that might attract and keep officers here in Moulton. 

When they returned to open session nearly an hour later, city leaders approved a roughly 10 percent pay increase for two officers and one other city employees (specifically, raises went to Moulton’s two full time officers and a public works employee). No adjustments were made to the chief’s salary.

Bennett earned $56,000 a year as chief of police, which when understaffed as he had been for some months now, meant he stayed on near constant call. 

He could return to Hallettsville as a basic patrolman and earn a like amount, especially since they recently approved several across the board pay increases for the officers in that department. Plus, he wouldn’t have to worry about shifts going uncovered or answering phone calls at all hours.

It proved a hard logic to argue, as evidenced by his June 7 resignation to return to Hallettsville. That same meeting, council approved naming Beyer their interim chief once more.

This is Beyer’s fourth stint as chief of police in Moulton, and he says he’ll be managing it alongside his other full time job with the state as an investigator with Child Protective Services. 

He’ll also tend to those jobs around his other responsibilities within the community. Beyer also happens to be president of the local school board, having just completed an exhaustive search for a new district superintendent at the local schools, his second in as many years.

Admittedly, Beyer said he’d much rather be wetting a hook out on the bay somewhere this summer. Still, that’s even more reason for him to find a good chief candidate for the Moulton police force.

Beyer has continuously served on Moulton’s police force in some capacity since he first started in law enforcement back in 1995.

“I’ve always had a soft spot when it comes to Moulton,” he said. “But I don’t know how many more runs as chief I have left in me. I’m getting awful close to qualifying for my retirement, both here in Moulton and with the state. And I’ll tell you, retirement just keeps sounding better and better.”