Texarkana chief of police quitting for family reasons

TEXARKANA — After about 17 months on the job, Chief Michael Kramm is leaving the Texarkana Police Department.

Kramm announced his pending departure Thursday in a message to his staff.

“Many of you have heard me say ‘family comes first.’ It is time for me to live up to that mantra. I have some family obligations back in Southeast Texas that I need to be there to meet. Therefore, I have informed the city manager and the executive staff that I will be leaving in early May,” Kramm wrote.

Kramm assumed command Oct. 24, 2022, besting nearly 40 other applicants nationwide to succeed Kristi Bennett as chief. Bennett, the city’s first female police leader, resigned in June 2022 to take a similar position in her hometown of Hot Springs Village.

Kramm came to Texarkana, Ark., from League City, Texas, where he had nearly 30 years in public service. He was chief of police from 2012 to 2018, when he was appointed as an assistant city manager. He retired in January 2022, but that did not last long.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, I can’t do this. I’ll drive myself and my family crazy, or I’ll spend all my money,’” Kramm said about retirement in an earlier Gazette article.

About that time, he learned from friend and Texarkana native Marty Adcock about the opening at the police department. His hiring was announced at an Oct. 3, 2022, Board of Directors meeting.

Early on, Kramm said officer training would be a priority.

“Law enforcement solves so many different problems for people that we can’t train for everything a police officer is going to encounter in a single shift — but we try to incorporate as much as we can,” the chief said in an earlier interview. “We try to repeat it as often as we need to, to make sure if anything’s changed, we’re getting refreshed training.”

Kramm’s pride when speaking about his family is hard to miss, especially when it comes to his and wife Melinda’s sons.

Older son Coleman, a Texas A&M University engineering student, is completing an internship in League City. Kramm describes him as tenacious and focused.

Younger son Greyson is the musical prodigy who publishes music under the label NonProdigy, which can be found on various streaming services, including Amazon Music and Spotify.

In his letter, Kramm praised the work of Assistant Chief Bobby Jordan and the rest of the department.

“Patrol officers and detectives have worked too many overtime hours to count, staffing shifts and working weekends to keep the Entertainment District safe for the public,” he wrote. “It has truly been an all-hands effort, and it has been an honor to be your chief.”

He also praised city administration.

“City Manager Robert Thompson is a great boss and truly supports his staff. Finance Director TyRhonda Henderson is a joy to work with and a friend. Public Works Director Tyler Richards is a magician with the way he juggles so many tasks, and still finds time to help everyone who asks. And Mayor Allen Brown is an elected official who is actually in it for the right reasons,” Kramm wrote. “I am confident whoever takes my place will appreciate what great relations exist across city departments.”

Information on when the city will begin the search for Kramm’s successor was not immediately available.