By Staff
Former task force agent to head department
By MARY-ALLISON LANCASTER Managing editor
East Brewton announced the hiring of its new police chief Monday afternoon.
A search committee selected B.C. Cooper, of Lowndesboro, Ala. He was selected over eight other applicants vying for the position. City Council members unanimously voted Cooper as new police chief during City Council Monday evening.
Cooper has more than 20 years supervising personnel and five years as chief of police in various communities in Alabama, including Hayneville and Silas.
According to his resume, Cooper is retired from the U.S. Army. He has been a narcotics investigator for one year at the Clio Police department and was a narcotics enforcement agent at the Escambia County Sheriff's Department from 1996 until 1999.
Mayor Terry Clark said that he was "tickled pink" to have Cooper as the new police chief. Sheriff Grover Smith said Monday night that Cooper was a "no nonsense kind of guy" and would be an asset to the police department.
Cooper beat out Matthew Hammond of Brantley; Sammie Brown, Jr., of Daphne; Shawn Sullivan of Lenox; Foy Ray and Jason Crawford, both of East Brewton; Roger Ivy of Brewton and Eugene Pooling and James Coker, both of Mobile.
Cooper will start his new job as East Brewton police chief July 28.
A retirement party will be held for outgoing Police Chief Wilson Mallard tomorrow, Thursday, July 28, at 2 p.m. inside City Hall. Mallard's retirement was announced late-June. He worked as police chief for more than 11 years.