New police leader in Yellow Springs

Hale no longer interim chief; raise declined.

Yellow Springs Police Chief David Hale was sworn in this week after the council unanimously approved his contract.

Under the indefinite employment agreement, Hale will annually earn $70,000 and will receive a work cell phone and vehicle.

“The contract is standard and is the same basic contract except for the severance (provision),” said Yellow Springs Village Manager Patti Bates.

Hale, 51, is a former Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office major, has served as interim chief for the Yellow Springs Police Department since Oct. 2. He will oversee a $2.8million budget this year and the department’s 13 officers and eight dispatchers.

Hale replaced the former village police chief, Anthony Pettiford, who resigned Sept. 19 because of a shoulder injury he sustained on the job shortly after he was hired. Pettiford had served in the role for almost two years.

Hale’s starting salary is less than his predecessor’s. Pettiford starting annual salary in 2012 was $78,000.

“Chief Hale was offered more money and turned it down,” Bates said. “He elected to become permanent at the same salary as interim (police chief position).”

Bates said the decision will

result in a cost savings for the department.

“My troops got a 1 percent” pay increase, Hale said. “It didn’t seem right. I’m happy to do the job for the money they’re paying me. The budget was tight, so it just seemed appropriate to do for the rate I was doing it at.”

Hale is one of five village employees who have a contract. He is an atwill employee, but if he is fired without cause, he will be entitled to severance equivalent to three months of pay.

Under the agreement, which includes a sixmonth probationary period, Hale must give the village two months written notice if he resigns.