The Olney City Council signed Police Chief Dan Birbeck to a threeyear contract that he said will allow him to build on the momentum of the past four years in cleaning up crime and dilapidated structures that have been a haven for crime.
FBI crime statistics show that Olney’s crime rate dropped 42 percent between 2020 and 2022, the latest year for which statistics are publicly available. That drop in crime is now
closer to 60 percent thanks to gains in the past two years, Chief Birbeck said.
“We did a lot of hard work the first four years. We tripled our case loads from an average of 300 cases to a thousand each year and now we are feeling the benefits of a lot of hard work,” he said. “We had everything from crimes against children – a lot of cases against child victims. We had huge problems with theft and drugs. Now there’s a different feeling
on the street. People notice a difference.”
He gave credit to his staff of nine officers for the department’s successes.
“They are the ones who are doing all the hard work. Everyone from my new patrol officers to my evidence [officer],” he said. “For a rural agency … to be fully staffed is an accomplishment. It shows that we are all working together and focused on the right
things.”
The contract marks the start of the longest period of leadership stability at the Olney Police Department since 2017, when the City went through several police chiefs – including Robert Michael Cross, who went to federal prison for forcing two people he arrested to perform a sex act at gunpoint.
Chief Birbeck’s contract was effective last week and will expire in
mid-2027. He came to Olney in July 2020 upon retiring from the Dallas County Hospital District Police Department, where he served for nearly 20 years. He also served as a reserve sergeant at the Young County Sheriff ’s Office for 10 years during that time.
His first initiative after arriving in Olney was cracking down on nighttime crime sprees by increasing police presence, he said.
“Nighttime traffic is not
as prevalent as it was and if they are out, they are not stealing things,” he said. “We are still working on it – there is a lot to go.”
Going forward, Chief Birbeck said he will work with the Public Works Department to clean up trash and high grass and to tear down derelict structures to give Olney a “safer appearance” and discourage criminal activity in those areas.
“It’s
the broken window theory - when you fix things up it is not as inviting to criminals,” he said. “The City is less run down and overrun like it was in 2020 when it felt like the criminal element was in charge.”
He also plans to go back to the state Legislature next year to pitch his idea for a mobile mental health unit to bring care to Olney and keep mentally ill citizens out of the Young County Jail.
He said he was “honored” that the City Council signed a contract with him. “When I started I said I didn’t need a contract - that I would do a good job. Now that I am heavily invested in the community … I just want some security.”
