Owensboro Police Chief Art Ealum was recently elected president of the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police.
Ealum, who was also named Police Chief of the Year in 2018, took on the one-year president’s term at KACP’s annual conference that was held at the Owensboro Convention Center in late July.
According to Ealum, both titles were milestones, but not the highlights of his career.
“You’re only as good as what you did yesterday,” Ealum said. “Everybody should strive to get better and not become complacent.”
During his term as KACP president, Ealum hopes to address the ongoing problems with the pension system and maintain an active voice in Frankfort. He also hopes to bring awareness to the decriminalization of mental illness, which according to Ealum, is a statewide problem that impacts a majority of law enforcement agencies.
“There are times we have had five officers in a 24-hour period drive people from here to Hopkinsville to Western State Hospital,” he said. “Usually that turnaround time is four hours.”
While mileage is reimbursed, the officers’ time is not, Ealum said.
“We have shift minimums on the street and oftentimes we have to call people into work overtime to make those runs and we are not reimbursed for that time,” he said.
A native of Evansville, Ind., Ealum started working for Owensboro Police Department in 1991. He was promoted to sergeant in 2002, a lieutenant in 2004, captain/major in 2008, deputy chief in 2010 and chief in 2012. Despite his rise through the organization and the two new titles, Ealum said he has not hit a professional plateau.
“I’m not one of those people that says, ‘I’ve reached this pinnacle and now I’m done, now I can just coast,” he said. “Coasting is not in my DNA.”
