By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON / Community Columnist

Richard Benson McClelland was recently appointed chief of the Childersburg Police Department by Mayor Jimmy Payne and the Childersburg City Council.

McClelland, a resident of Chelsea, is married to wife Kim and they have two sons. Senior Airman E-4 Tyler McClelland, U. S. Air Force, serves at Robbins AFB with wife Amanda and baby Madelyn, age 18 months.

Seaman E-3 Austin McClelland, Chelsea High School Class of 2014, is stationed at Bahrain Naval Base and wife Private First Class E3 Reanna, U.S. Army, is serving at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

McClelland grew up in Troy where he was an offensive lineman on the 1981 state championship high school team. He has been in law enforcement for 24 years.

He graduated from the Birmingham Police Academy, became certified as an Alabama Peace Officer and Itoxilyzer 5000 in 1987.

While working with the UAB Police Department and later as a police officer with Vestavia Hills, he earned his bachelor of science degree in criminal justice at UAB in December 1993, completed level 1 and 2 in the Kinesic Technique of Interview and Interrogation and tactical operations seminar in 1996, and earned his Juris Doctor from the Jones School of Law in Montgomery in December 1997.

He became a member of the Alabama State Bar in February 2002, co-worked in law and as a deputy sheriff with the Autauga County Sheriff’s Department in Montgomery for several years.

He opened McClelland Law, LLC in Columbiana in 2008 specializing in collections, bankruptcy, real estate, criminal, property, family, domestic relations, contract, and personal injury law.

He joined the Childersburg Police Department in 2011 as a patrol officer, graduated from SWAT Operator School at Fort McClellan and was promoted to sergeant in 2012. He was appointed chief of police on Nov. 3, 2015.

“My desire is for our police to have an outstanding relationship with the community and to earn its trust and support,” said McClelland. “My goal is for the Childersburg Police Department to be the vanguard police force in all Talladega County. I have already put more men on patrol at night, roaming neighborhoods, and becoming more visible. My door is always open and I am here to serve you.”