Regime change for Houston police

Highlighted by the retirement of a lawman of 38 years, the Houston Police Department’s staff went through several changes this week.

After serving as Houston’s police chief for five years following a 33-year stint with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Jim McNiell wrapped up his career Friday. The department is now led by Tim Ceplina, 46, who has been with the agency for 22 years, the last 15 as a sergeant and supervisor.

“This is a fantastic town and everything is almost always positive toward the police department,” Ceplina said. “We have great community support and we work well with the city council and other departments.”

Ceplina is a 1986 graduate of Houston High School and has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Springfield’s Drury University. Along with being a policeman, he is a criminal justice and psychology instructor at Drury’s campus at Cabool, owns and operates Spearpoint LLC (a company that provides instruction to employees of schools and other organizations about how to deal with the presence of an armed intruder) and is a former Marine, serving in Desert Storm and Desert Shield in the early 1990s.

Prior to joining the HPD, Ceplina spent two years as a dispatcher, jailer-bailiff and reserve officer for the Texas County Sheriff’s Department.

“We’ll make a few changes to make sure we stay current and up to date,” he said, “but one thing that won’t change is the way the officers in this department conduct themselves in the best way possible to help the people we serve.”

Moving into the HPD’s sergeant position is Brad Evans, a 12-year member of the agency. Evans, 33, is a Licking High School graduate who earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Drury. He and his wife, Melanie, live in Houston and have two children: Katy, 7, and Kaleb, 3.

“This was my first job in law enforcement and I’m still here,” he said. “I’m pleased that Tim has promoted me to sergeant. I feel I’m up to the task and I’m really excited. I’ve put a lot of work into this department, and we’re going to keep working to improve it.

“I think we have one of the best departments around, and I would go into battle with any of these guys, any time.”

“The fact he’s still here speaks well of the department,” Ceplina said. “We don’t have much turnover because once officers get here, this is where they want to work.”

To keep the department’s roster stocked with six full-time officers, the city council recently approved the hiring of 23-year-old Houston High School graduate Greg Ryan, who has worked for the sheriff’s department the past four years, starting as a jail corrections officer and becoming a road deputy last October. Ryan (who has been a member of the National Guard for more than five years and is engaged to Evania Vlietstra) said he has had his eyes on becoming an HPD officer since he was a student in the state’s law enforcement academy.

“I’ve known the Houston Police Department is where I wanted to be since I started going through the academy,” he said. “I really like this community and I want to help the people here. This is the best way I know how.”

Ceplina said keeping the chief job in-house was good for the department’s future.

“I appreciate the city council giving me the chance to step up and do this,” he said, “because it allows for some mobility and promotion within the department. Things will be very different here five or 10 years from now, and a lot of older officers won’t be here any more. So getting some younger guys here and getting them some good experience is great planning for the future of the city.”

Ceplina said keeping pace with rising caseloads in the face of increasing administrative requirements is difficult with six full-time officers (the same number as a decade ago), but he pledged excellence from the HPD regardless of circumstances.

“We pride ourselves on being professional,” he said, “and while our caseload is continuing to increase, we’re continuing to keep up and will continue to do that with what we have to make this the best place possible for the people of the community.”

A LONG-TIME LAWMAN’S STORY

McNiell is a graduate of Hillsboro High School in Nashville, Tenn., and earned a bachelor’s degree in physical health, safety and driver’s education from School of the Ozarks (now College of the Ozarks). Before becoming Houston police chief, he spent 33 years with the Missouri State Highway Patrol prior to retiring in May 2010.

McNiell’s career began in 1977 as a weight inspector on Interstate 55 in Steele. The following year, he achieved his goal of becoming a state trooper and attended the law enforcement academy in Jefferson City (graduating Oct. 20, 1978) and was assigned to the Houston area where he worked for about 14 years.

McNiell steadily moved up in rank and was promoted to lieutenant in July 1992. He transferred to Sikeston, where he worked as commander of a satellite office until his retirement for the MSHP.

McNiell spent 29 years of his law enforcement career in a supervisory position.

“I’m leaving this department in very capable hands,” he said. “Tim has a lot of expertise and knowledge that will benefit the other officers, and I think this department will continue to move forward.”

The HPD saw several changes during McNiell’s tenure. The department’s fleet of vehicles increased from four to six (so each full-time officer now has one), officers gained access to Internet in the vehicles and reports became recorded digitally. Officers now wear bullet-proof vests, carry tasers and have radar units, and earlier this year they began using body-mounted video cameras on a regular basis.

“I think any chief would want to think a department is better when he leaves than when he found it,” McNiell said. “There’s no doubt in my mind –– and I don’t think in any of the officers’ minds –– that we’re a lot better today than we were five years ago. That’s not to put anyone down, but times have changed and mandated that some things were done. To keep up, you have to get the equipment and do the other things that will better serve your community, and I think we’ve done that.”

McNiell will go out wishing he could have had one more full-time officer at the HPD.

“I wish I could have done more,” he said, “but with the lack of manpower, the chief here is not just a figurehead, he’s busy handling daily calls and there are even many times when he has to work by himself. That pulls you away from doing administrative things a chief would normally do, and makes it very hard to stay caught up.

“A seventh person would afford the opportunity to make the chief position more available to the public within the office and to do more administrative work. That work still gets done, but it would probably get done better if there was more time to do it.”

McNiell said the HPD’s relationship with the city council and City Administrator Larry Sutton has been good in general.

“Overall, the city has been excellent to work with and they have helped us improve to where we are today,” he said. “I want to thank them for their support.”

McNiell and his wife, Wilda, have been married 39 years and have two children: Houston Herald editor Jeff McNiell (who lives in Houston with his wife and two children) and Jennifer Byrd (a teacher who lives with her husband and two children in Lexington, S.C.). He said he would like to be remembered as a man who led by example.

“I’d like to think I was respected,” McNiell said, “and was a man who didn’t ask anything of his subordinates that he wouldn’t do himself and got his hands and uniform dirty just like the rest of them. I’d like to be remembered as being fair in what I did, and that I helped make this department better while also being a team member.

“Hopefully, the guys will view me as someone who was good to have worked for and who they learned a lot from.”

McNiell said he will remain in Houston and stay active coaching his grandchildren in youth sports, being involved in programs and activities at First Baptist Church, broadcasting Houston High School sports alongside his son for the Herald and being a Texas County 911 board member.

“I’m ready to move on and do different things in this community,” he said. “I’ll stay busy with plenty of things, and in the meantime I’ll work on some ‘honey-dos’ and play just a little bit of golf.”

Serving people for 38 years was a blessing to McNiell, who was never forced to fire his service weapon in the line of duty.

“That’s a long career,” he said, “but I have worked for two outstanding agencies. I leave with the satisfaction that I’ve done an excellent job, and I’m thankful to have been able to serve the people of this state and this community.

“I’ve really been blessed; during my daily walk, I know the good Lord has been with me and protected me.”