About the Police Chief

I glanced at the headline this morning, and thought, "Jeez, suspect #1 rolled over pretty fast." Yesterday's headline had me muttering, "Chief DeMoura gets his man."

Thinking about it a little bit, I'm kind of wondering where folks stand on new police chief Robert DeMoura. Sure, it's only been three or four months, and I would say any grade other than "incomplete" would be folly, but I'm sensing there's an overall feeling that people are warming up to him.

I'm not going to dig back into comments from early this year, but overwhelmingly the reaction around here was very negative to DeMoura's hiring. Since then, it's been pretty quiet. If anything, there's been some spotty "Gee, the chief is doing a pretty good job" comments here and there.

I'll say this: I liked him before he got the job, and I like him now. He has been, from I've seen, everywhere. Just about every event I've been to, I've seen him. And inevitably, he ends up talking a person or a couple. I don't eavesdrop, but he seems to listen and pay attention to what people are saying.

So, what's the current mood of the populace on DeMoura? It's been less than six months, so I don't think it's time for ultimate decisions, but in terms of a snapshot, better than expected? Worse? About what you thought (and is that good or bad)?