When the City of Edna opened its search for a new police chief, it didn’t have far to look.
The city hired Kenneth Pyle, senior detective in the Port Lavaca Police Department and longtime Edna resident, to replace Rick Boone as Edna Police Chief. Boone was elected Jackson County Sheriff in November.
The two will work together this month to allow Pyle to get up to speed before Boone is sworn in as sheriff in January.
City Manager Gary Broz said that Pyle’s combination of investigative experience, passion for law enforcement, and local roots made him a great choice for the city’s chief.
“He brings enthusiasm, knowledge, and as a resident, has a vision that we’re all looking for,” Broz said. “We’re looking to go the same direction. I’m excited.”
Pyle served as senior detective and training coordinator in Port Lavaca and worked with some CPS referrals, but primarily with higher profile investigations and with keeping the department up to date with Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) training.
Becoming the city’s top law enforcement officer will bring a change in perspective, in addition to the obvious change in responsibility.
“It’s different from investigations, where you’re working on a case and you’re kind of handling things one thing at a time,” he said, emphasizing that his scope would have to be broader than before. “You could be juggling some cases but, with being a chief of police, you almost have to have a little bit of aperture, like in photography.
“You have to have a little bit more of a broader vision besides what does the law state, and oversee everyone else within the department, make sure that I’m serving the patrol officers as best as I can, and making sure that we’re in compliance with TCOLE, that the guys have everything that they need.”
Pyle grew up in Victoria and graduated from Victoria College’s police academy.
Meeting his wife while in college led to moving to Edna at age 19, where they’ve made their home for over 20 years.
“I was in college, and I met my beautiful wife, and her family and everyone is from Edna, and that brought me in,” Pyle said.
His wife works in healthcare and two of their three children are still in school, while the oldest has graduated. They’re very involved with school and church activities.
The chance to work in Edna was too good to pass up, he said.
“This is my home,” he said. “I’ve been here 20plus years. I always wanted to come to Edna and my big goal is to come to Edna. Opportunity came about, and I quickly jumped on that opportunity as it approached.”
Even so, he waited until everything was certain before letting family know. They were very excited to hear the news, he said.
“Some of my extended family were like, you didn’t tell us anything, why didn’t you say anything?” Pyle said. “I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up and I didn’t want to sound like I was bragging or something like that.
“That’s not my personality. I’m not trying to be power hungry or anything like that. I just tried my best for an opportunity, and I was selected.”
Working in law enforcement requires much more than what’s portrayed on television, where cases are often solved in 48 minutes with a few commercial breaks. Dealing with some of the crime that occurs can be challenging emotionally, as well as physically and intellectually.
“I think this is a calling,” Pyle said. “It’s not something that you can be like, you know what, I’m going to go to school, I’m going to get educated in this, and I’m going to go do this job, X job.
“You truly need to be called to this type of position. I completely lean on the Lord and believe that it was in His hands. It was orchestrated for me to believe that it was in His hands. It was orchestrated for me to be here.”
Pyle
