CLARKSVILLE, Indiana — Three months ago, in a divisive Clarksville Town Council meeting, the council voted 4-3 to start the new year with a new police chief.
Nathan Walls was selected to take over the role, replacing former Chief Mark Palmer.
A decision that gained harsh criticism from some council and community members.
"It was really hard for a long time to kind of keep the noise out and stay focused on what was going on, because we have a town to run. If I was selected to manage this police department, I couldn't be distracted by all the other things," Walls said. "We have some core principles and as long as we stick with those, things are going to be good. If we are excellent at protecting our schools, our residents, and our businesses – the rest of it kind of falls into place."
Now, three months after the decision, the dust has settled and Walls said his focus has remained clear since the beginning: protect the community.
“We have an extreme amount of call volume for our little town. Most of the calls are in our business affairs, which makes it hard to police neighborhoods as well as we would like to," he said. “We are creating a traffic division that will be tasked with monitoring traffic and taking care of aggressive driving in the neighborhoods.”
Focusing on the community, but also making sure the department internally is taken care of. Once Walls took over the new role, he worked with the department to create a Peer Support Team.
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"I've seen a lot of horrific things in my career and I understand what some of the trials and things our career can do to our officers and I've seen it change personalities," he said. "The old way of thinking about these events was, 'you're a police officer that's what you signed up for.' And that's not fair."
The Peer Support Team is to help combat the mental toll the job can take on officers. Walls said nearly 25% of the department signed up to volunteer for the team.
“There’s nothing to gain other than helping your fellow officer," he said. "PTSD is a real thing and there are things you can do along the way to help and get someone the resources they may need. I've seen lots of careers, I've seen lots of officers throughout my career who become jaded, they become distant, their personalities change because of the things we see on a daily basis. I don't want people to change."
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