City of Centralia appoints interim police chief

CENTRALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Centralia Board of Alderman appointed a new interim police chief and approved a law firm to serve as a special legal counsel.

The board appointed Corporal Nat Stoebe to take over as interim police chief until the city finds a more long term solution.

"My whole objective, moving forward from here on out is to move forward, and to try to rebuild the police department, the relationship with the city, and to do what we all can do best, as far as for the public," Stoebe said.

Stoebe has been with the Centralia police department for over 5 years and he says the department now has 6 full-time officers.

The board also approved a law firm called Cunningham, Vogel & Rost to look into recent "allegations of impropriety."

Dozens of Centralia residents showed up to voice concerns about the recent resignations from the police department and transparency in the city government.

Three Centralia police officers resigned Thursday after Chief Bob Bias announced his leave days before and took early retirement Sunday. One officer mentioned a lack of transparency from the city as a reason why he resigned.

"This isn't about me anymore, it kind of started that way, but it's not, it's more about transparency from the city to the citizens, and let them understand what exactly is going on," former police chief Bob Bias said.

There will now be an investigation into what's been going on between the department and the city.

Stoebe says he's also looking forward to working with the Boone County Sheriff's Office to keep people living in Centralia safe.