Police Chief Jeff Miller is sticking around a little bit longer
after his retirement, thanks to a six-month contract with the city
to hire him on in an interim basis, but his retirement plans are
already set in stone.
Police Chief Jeff Miller is sticking around a little bit longer after his retirement, thanks to a six-month contract with the city to hire him on in an interim basis, but his retirement plans are already set in stone.
Miller, who calls himself a devout Christian, will go to seminary school in hopes to further involve himself in church, he said.
“As a member and leader in my church, I’m drawn to that,” he said. “I think I’ll be busy with church and family.”
But those plans will wait for at least a few months because as the city tries to find a replacement, Miller, 52, will continue to work as the interim chief of police. Regardless, though, Miller knows his time in police work is coming to an end after 35 years.
“I hit the maximum retirement requirements last year so I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” Miller said. “I felt the time was right but I didn’t want to leave the city high and dry.”
Looking back over the past seven years as Hollister’s police chief, Miller is happy for what he accomplished during budget-restricted times, but he is looking forward to tossing away his cell phone and relaxing.
“I always had that phone with me, and it’ll be nice not to worry about it,” Miller said.
Everywhere he went for seven years, the city-issued phone was always in his pocket, regardless if he was at home sleeping or at the beach, he said.
“I’ve been told that’s the biggest thing once you retire,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about things.”
The burden will be lifted.
“It’s a tremendous burden because you are responsible for so many things,” he said. “You just want to give them (officers) the best you can.”
Every day he worried about what went on in the city, with his phone by his side.
“I prayed every day for their safety,” he said, of the officers.
The economic downfall and shortcomings of the department didn’t make things easy, but in the end it was more fulfilling, Miller said.
“This department was a ship – a ship stuck out in the middle of a storm,” he said. “We got through the storm and we are still afloat. And that’s what I’m proud of.”
But it’s the people of the department, his co-workers, who he will miss the most once he does finally does say goodbye.
“I’ll still be around, but those relationships change,” he said. “You are going to miss that camaraderie you develop.”
When things got tough, the department would pull together because they went through it as one department, he said.
But Miller still has at least six more months on the job, thanks to a contract that was approved by the city Nov. 15. The contract will save the city $40,000 for the rest of the fiscal year, and it will allow the city to have a smooth transition between old and new regimes.
“It’s a win-win all the way around,” Miller said. “The city gets to save some money and they are getting the same chief they’ve had for the past seven years.”
Miller’s contract has a 960-hour maximum to finish off the fiscal year, and they city will not pay for benefits such as health care, according to the city council’s staff report. Miller will work for hourly wages at the same rate he received last year.
