Changing of the guard : Hamilton took the reins; Helms stepped aside
Posted on Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Daily Record photograph by Charles Fowler Outgoing Rogers Police Chief Steve Helms received a standing ovation as he approached the podium during a swearing-in ceremony at the Rogers City Hall on Monday.
ROGERS - The lineup behind the desk at Rogers City Council meetings will be no different when the council meets Jan. 13 than it was at the Dec. 9 meeting, as all of the council members were re-elected, most without opposition.
So when the council members took their oaths of office Monday, they were overshadowed by two men who have never been on a ballot.
Police Chief Steve Helms, who will retire Jan. 23, gave one of many goodbyes as he officially handed control of his department to Stephen Hamilton, who was hired from the Springfield (Mo.) Police Department by Mayor Steve Womack. Helms, who received a standing ovation from the audience in the packed council chambers, lamented the apparent end of his law-enforcement career, the "30 years that have been good and bad - mostly good - but they have gone by so fast."
Helms choked up, fought back tears, when he thanked both his families - he thanked his wife and the family he created with her, and later the brotherhood he joined when he first donned a police badge.
Though difficult to see someone replace him in the department, Helms was complimentary of his successor.
"I have come to like him, and I have come to respect him," Helms said of Hamilton. "I am truly excited about the future of the department and Rogers under his leadership."
Hamilton, who said he was inheriting a department "in very good condition," hinted at a new era when the accepted ways are challenged, when officers will be asked to find the best methods and abandon the conventional ones, which he said can infringe upon progress.
"Traditions are hard to change," Hamilton said.
The most visible change, he said, may be the posting of the department's vision and value statement, both in the main lobby and at the rear entrance, which the officers use, reminding everyone of the reasons behind the work the department is doing.
Springfield Police Chief Lynn Rowe, who was in the front row to see his former officer given the reins of the department, called Hamilton a "quiet and steady leader" who was not afraid to face tough issues.
Hamilton was hired as Helms' replacement in October, not long after Helms announced his retirement. Helms will stay with the department in an advisory capacity until his retirement date.
Meanwhile, only seven council members were sworn in during the ceremony. Mark Kruger, a Rogers High School vice principal, was unable to miss the first day of school following the Christmas break. Womack said he would administer the oath of office to Kruger at a later date.
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