New police chief on the job in the city of Uniontown
From the West Alabama Newsroom–
The city of Uniontown has a new top cop.
Action 8 News sat down with the city’s new police chief to talk about his goals for the department and the community.
Police chief Michael Kiser has spent his first weeks on the job — immersing himself in the Uniontown community — and planning ways to improve the police department.
He says his goal is to create a police department — that’s built on transparency, accessibility and public trust.
“If I was a citizen here in Uniontown, what would I expect or what would I want from the police?” asked Kiser.
“Well, number one I would want protection. I would want to know that my children are safe, that the schools are safe. That the roads are safe for me and my family to travel on. The stores are safe for me to go in and out of. And that’s where we come in.”
Kiser says a police department is only as good as the officers who have taken the oath — to serve and protect.
“I don’t want them to be numbers, I don’t want them to be a warm body in a seat that’s filling a shift. I want them to enforce the law, I want them to have a caring heart,” he said.
“And reach out and see what the people need. Because that’s why we’re here.”
Kiser says retaining quality officers — and providing them with up to date training and equipment — will be the key to the department’s success.
“It’s not about the call you get, it’s about what you do when you get there.
Kiser brings about 20 years of law enforcement experience to the job — including stints with the Selma Police Department — and both the Dallas and Perry County Sheriff’s Offices.
