Former Killeen police chief listed as interim chief of Jarrell

Killeen Daily Herald
By Kevin Limiti | Herald
September 21, 2023

Charles “Chuck” Kimble, the former police chief for the Killeen Police Department, is now the interim chief of police for the city of Jarrell, according to the Jarrell Police Department’s website.

Kimble on Nov. 29, 2022, announced his intention to retire from the city of Killeen. His last day as police chief was Jan. 27

Afterward, he has signed a “temporary employee” agreement with City Manager Kent Cagle to become interim chief on Feb. 13, for no more than 12 weeks, while the city searched for his successor.

New Killeen Police Chief Pedro “Pete” Lopez Jr. was approved by the Killeen City Council in May. His first day was in June and his starting salary was $190,000 per year.

Kimble’s annual salary, when he was hired at KPD, was $129,726.27.

Attempts to get more information about Kimble’s interim status with Jarrell were not returned Thursday. However, his name and title was listed on city’s police department webpage.

His email was listed as c.kimble@cityofjarrell.com. Herald questions sent to that email were not immediately returned.

Jarrell is a city in Williamson County north of Austin which is growing at a rapid rate. According to the census bureau, the population of Jarrell was 2,111 in 2021 making it the 9th fastest growing city in the country. According to Austin TV station KXAN, Jarrell’s population is now up to 3,410.

Neighborhood Scout, a crime analytics webpage, says that Jarrell is 54% safer than other cities with a one in 704 chance of becoming a victim of violent crime and a one in 132 chance of being a victim of a property crime.

A Herald analysis of crime data submitted by KPD to the Texas Department of Public Safety shows that violent crime — homicide, robbery, assault and rape — generally declined during Kimble’s tenure between Jan. 1, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2021. But the number of criminal homicides reported by Killeen police during that span ranged from a low of seven cases in 2018 — Kimble’s first full year as police chief — to a high of 26 in 2020. And last year, according to figures provided by KPD, 22 homicides were reported.

When he retired , the city was expected to pay Kimble more than $43,000 in a supplemental payout — 340.96 hours of unused sick leave — amounting to $28.420.51 — and 176.26 hours of unused vacation, which is $14,692.88, according to city officials.

Kimble was among 42 applicants for police chief when he was hired in Killeen more than five years ago. Last year, while still in the Killeen job, he was a finalist for sheriff in King County, Washington — an area of about 2.2 million people, including Seattle.

Kimble was praised by Mayor Debbie Nash-King in January for his role in the community, including his homeless outreach program.

“The systems he put in place such as the homeless outreach program and the community engagement unit for downtown Killeen will provide quality services for our residents,” Nash-King said then. “We are truly thankful for his dedication and service to our community.”

Kimble is not the first city official to be hired by Jarrell. Killeen’s former assistant city manager, Danielle Singh, was hired in May as the city manager for the city of Jarrell.

Singh had been with the city of Killeen for four years prior to becoming the Killeen assistant city manager in April 2021. Her starting salary when she accepted the No. 2 administrative position in Killeen was $175,000.

Singh had started working in the city of Killeen in 2018 as director of public works.

Recently, the city of Killeen said it had 80 applicants for the position of assistant city manager, which is still vacant.