Assistant Chief Terry Zeigler will take over the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, county officials announced Tuesday.
Zeigler, who joined the department in 1990, says he'll be continuing the work of interim police chief Ellen Hanson.
"We will continue using strategies like hotspot policing and intelligence-led policing to combat crime, but we will be open to new strategies if it will make our community safer," Zeigler said at a press conference at City Hall.
He beat out four other finalists for the job.
Zeigler says Kansas City, Kan., has had a lot of success with its community policing program in the past two decades. He says he'd like to expand the strategies used by the 19-person unit to the entire department.
"That philosophy needs to spread throughout the organization," says Zeigler, adding that he believes the department could be used as a model for others around the country.
Zeigler supports equipping officers with body cameras but says there are many out-of-date computers and servers that will need to be updated first. A committee is studying the issue.
"They're looking at the legality issues, the open records issues and the constitutionality of taking a camera into a residence," Zeigler says. "We want to make sure we understand those issues and implement it correctly."
Zeigler says his first priority as police chief will be some internal restructuring. He does not anticipate any reductions in force.
Former police chief Rick Armstrong retired in December 2013.
