ELKHART, Ind. -- It's a new era in Elkhart, as Ray Juengst takes over as the city's new police chief.
Chief Juengst's hiring comes with some questions about his last job as police chief in Saint Charles, Missouri.
The top two takeaways from today's introduction of Chief Juengst - one, Mayor Roberson is confident he can do the job, and number two, Chief Juengst is ready to earn the trust of this community.
"Give me a chance, let me show you what we're capable of, let me show you and highlight what Elkhart's capable of," said Juengst.
After more than 30 years with Saint Charles police in Missouri, Ray Juengst is on to his next adventure as chief of police in Elkhart.
At a press conference alongside Mayor Rod Roberson Monday, Chief Juengst says he's ready to put himself out there and commit to running a transparent department.
"We're going to earn it, one of the things I think a police department should do is be there, be transparent, be accountable, let the public know who we are, take that community policing out there and get to know them, give them an opportunity to speak to officers," said Chief Juengst.
The initial announcement of Juengst's hiring ruffled some feathers, as allegations of misconduct, plus an inappropriate relationship with a lieutenant, arose from his time in Saint Charles. But Mayor Roberson says the new chief has been forthcoming about what happened, and that he's not the subject of any ongoing investigations.
"There was nothing standing in the way that was tangible, in related to the allegations that obviously you may be speaking of in your question, and that's why we proceeded, and we are firmly in support of what Chief Juengst can do in the city of Elkhart," said Mayor Roberson.
One question for Chief Juengst was why Elkhart?
"It's a community, much like what I had in Saint Charles, for me, Saint Charles was home, and Elkhart, when I started looking around, it felt like home also. It's similar in size, it's similar in structure, the manpower in the department's the same, I'm a chief that when I chief, I want people to know who I am," said Chief Juengst.
"His experience in mentorship, his experience in developing officers, we do have a young patrol division, and he was created programmatic relationships around mentorship in his previous employ that was pretty attractive to us," said Mayor Roberson.
Chief Juengst says one of the things he's most proud of during his time in Saint Charles was being named the thirteenth safest midsized city in America, which he says speaks volumes about what he and his department was able to accomplish.