OLNEY ( KFDX/KJTL ) — After serving Olney for four years, Police Chief Dan Birbeck’s contract has been extended for another three years by the city council.

“Feels different here now from four years ago,” Birbeck said.

Taking office in 2020 following several police chiefs, including Robert Michael Cross, who was imprisoned on federal charges, Birbeck saw an immediate need to get to work.

“Most of the town was starving for a legitimate police department. The town was pretty run over,” Birbeck said. “There was a significant amount of crime, a lot of petty crime thefts. The police department was struggling to get a grasp on it.”

In four years alone, the long-serving chief has made strides in Olney’s security, reducing crime by just under 60 percent.

“I attribute the reduction in crime rate really to my guys and gals that are out there on the street really doing the work,” Birbeck said. “In 2020, when I took over, the police department averaged about 300 cases a year; we’ve increased that to almost 1,000 cases a year.”

It’s something that has improved overall city morale, according to Mayor Rue Rogers.

“Citizens want a safe community, and there’s a lot of positive things going on, but you also want to feel safe,” Rogers said. “Our police department has done a fantastic job over the last four years under Chief Birbeck’s leadership in policing and protecting our town and cleaning up the town and making it a better place to live and call home.”

But it’s not just crime the chief is after.

The department has beautified the town by targeting abandoned homes sought out by squatters.

“Cleanup neighborhoods, you fix things, you repair things,” Birbeck said. “The mood of the neighborhood changes.”

Birbeck will take his mission to the Texas State Legislature in the future, aiming to implement mobile mental health units with social workers, medics, and other staff in rural communities.

“So the idea is to reduce recidivism by caring for the root cause of the things that are causing crime in other territories. San Antonio and Dallas have proven to have made an impact,” Birbeck said. “The last two law enforcement-related shootings in Young County have been incidents where mental health was involved.”

He continued, “I don’t know that these teams would’ve made the difference, but I like to think they would have. That’s the goal.”

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