City of Mt. Vernon hires new chief of police in Call

The city of Mt. Vernon hired a new chief of police at a special session meeting on Sept. 21. City officials chose to give the position to Mt. Vernon local Darren Call, who has an expansive history in law enforcement. 
 
The hire comes after the retirement of previous chief of police Dave Hubert, Assistant Chief of Police Ed Evatt and the resignation of Sergeant Tannya Benitez. 
 
Call is a 30-year veteran of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, eventually rising to the rank of Corporal. He has lived in Mt. Vernon since 1990, raising a family in the city. He said this new position was a perfect opportunity for him to contribute meaningfully.
 
“Its just kind of an opportunity for me to give back to the community that’s been so good to us.” 
 
Call has ideas to improve the police department but first on his list is to address the staffing issue. The department, according to City Administrator Rob Harrington, has four active officers with the addition of Call and has faced heavy losses recently. 
 
The departments leadership was largely wiped out with the loss of Hubert in ?, Evatt in ? and Benitez in ??. Detective Thomas Taylor took over the duties of chief in the interim.
 
Call said that he plans to turn this around. On top of efforts made by Harrington to increase the desirability of the Mt. Vernon Police Department, including a pay bump and take-home cars, Call plans to bring in some officers of his own to help solve this problem. 
 
“Being in law enforcement for 30 years, I’ve got quite a few contacts,” said Call. “Veteran officers… I’ve got a few of them that are going to come and join me so we’ll be able to hit the ground running instead of having to completely train a rookie.”
 
Call plans to make some aesthetic changes as well, as new uniforms will soon be on the way for local officers. The new duds will be unique, he said, the design shared with only one other department in the country.
 
Other than a staff shortage, Call sees a few other areas for improvement in the department. He plans to bring some of the department’s software up to date. But in the long term, he wants the department to attract the best officers around. 
 
“I want this to be the police department in southwest Missouri that when law enforcement officers come out of the other departments or come out of the academy…that this is where they want to work,” said Call.