Former Hillsboro Interim Police Chief Eric Daniels was sworn in Monday as the new permanent chief of police for the city, with Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings saying that he was the man best qualified to occupy the position of leadership and that his record reflected commitment.
Daniels, a 23-year veteran of the Hillsboro Police Department, placed his left hand on a family Bible held by his wife, Michelle, and with a raised right hand, repeated the oath of office given by Hastings and witnessed by Hillsboro Safety and Service Director Mel McKenzie.
Daniels replaced Darrin Goudy, who became Hillsboro police chief in December 2017 and was later “given the option to resign” because officials found daily duty logs kept by dispatch did not always reflect what was recorded on Goudy’s time sheet.
Goudy submitted his letter of resignation on March 29 and Daniels was appointed interim chief of police shortly thereafter.
“We’ve spoken with Eric about this position before,” Hastings said. “This isn’t a situation where it just defaulted to Eric, this has been a conversation we’ve had over the course of several years and I think that now the time was right for both him and the City of Hillsboro.”
As previously reported in The Times-Gazette, Daniels is a 1988 graduate of Chillicothe High School and lived in Greenfield for a time, but moved back to Chillicothe with his wife and three children about 10 years ago.
McKenzie had high praise for Daniels, citing his extensive resume which included an associate’s degree in law enforcement technology, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in computer information systems.
“He also served six years in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a Persian Gulf veteran. Above all of that is Eric’s institutional knowledge of the department, having been a patrol officer there from 1997-2005 and a reserve officer from 2005 until being recently named interim chief. Eric’s experience of managing a department’s budget is also a big benefit in having him step in and help the city.”
Daniels said he came to Hillsboro more than two decades ago to start his career in law enforcement, then has served as a reserve officer with the Hillsboro Police Department since 2005 when he became the city’s systems administrator.
Following the swearing-in ceremony, Daniels told The Times-Gazette he’s “in it for the duration.”
“I’ve got a proven track record, I’ve been here for 23 years now,” he said. “This is my home and it’s my place to be.”
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571.
