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Danny Barron, Troy’s new Chief of Police Chief, had a busy couple of weeks settling into his new office.

Barron was appointed by the Troy City Council on Oct. 1 after former Police Chief Randall Barr retired at the end of September. Barron began his law enforcement career in 1991 as a dispatcher and has served under Troy’s last four police chiefs.

“The chiefs before me left the department in a good position,” Barron said. “I want to leave the police department in a better place than I found it. [Chief Barr] brought us a long way with our technology and that’s something I want to build on long term. We’ve done a good job with our community policing and I want to continue to build on that. I also want to focus on officer training and wellness.”

Barron said having a good relationship with the community was one of the most important aspects of community policing.

“Officers have a tough job policing the community they live in,” Barron said. “The community can be a voice for us, if they understand who we are and what we do.”

To help grow the bond between the community and its police officers, Barron said he would like to establish a Citizens Police Academy as well as a Junior Police Academy for children.

Barron said the academy would be a four week course with classes once a week for two hours.

“It would allow the community to learn about our departments, our patrols, police investigations, and our K-9 units and SWAT team,” Barron said. “It would allow the public to get to know our officers and find out what they are really like.”

Barron said the academies could also function as a recruiting tool for the TPD. He said he had spoken with other agencies who had cadets who eventually became officers.

Barron also said video technology played an important role in policing. Barron said the TPD began using body cameras in 2014, just before the incident in Ferguson, Mo., in which 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson.

Barron said body cameras became standard issue for police departments after that incident. Barron said initially, the body cameras took a while for officers to get used to, but the advantages of the body cameras far exceeded the disadvantages.

Barron said the cameras made for better officers and a more professional police force.

Barron said the TPD, with support from Troy Mayor Jason Reeves and the Troy City Council, had also been able to greatly expand its network of traffic cameras.

Barron said video footage was critical in modern day police work and he said the TPD had been able to make many cases through the use of video.

Barron said the amount of video footage compiled by the TPD each day is enormous. Barron said during his tenure as chief, he’d like to establish a crime center with one to two full-time personnel to review and assist officers with video footage.

Barron said the TPD had excellent training programs and he wanted to continue to build on those as well. He also said he wanted to put a strong focus on officer wellness and retention.