FAIRHOPE, Ala. — After a search process that lasted almost six months, Fairhope’s new police chief took the oath of office Wednesday.

“I’m truly humbled by this opportunity to serve,” Chief of Police Bill Press said after being sworn in. “In order to be successful, I will need the assistance of everyone within the department, but let me make this clear: at the end of the day, the buck stops here. I want you all to know, my door is always open.”

Press stood before a large audience that included Mayor Tim Kant, City Council members Debbie Quinn, Dan Stankoski, Rick Kingrea and Lonnie Mixon, more than a dozen uniformed Fairhope police officers, most city department heads, Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Mack, and several uniformed officers from the Foley Police Department.

“I’m proud that we have Bill Press as our police chief,” Kant said. “I’ve spoken with him several times and learned during that time that he’s got a heart, and that’s the thing you’ve got to have to succeed in law enforcement.”

Also in the audience was Terry Sanders, who served as police chief on an interim basis since his Jan. 22 appointment by the council.

“I think we owe him a round of applause,” said Kant, which the audience answered with a burst of loud clapping.

Kant said, “for the last four years, we’ve had ups and downs in the police department,” adding that mistakes had been made and statements made which he shouldn’t have, which he didn’t elaborate on, but also said, “hopefully we can learn from those and make things better.”

Council President Quinn also made a point of thanking Sanders.

“Thank you so much for jumping in when we needed you,” she said. “We kind of threw you in the briar patch. You’ve been a real asset.”

She also thanked Councilman Dan Stankoski for leading the search process.

“It’s been a long road, and you’ve done a yeoman’s job,” she said.

Quinn also thanked the search committee and Human Resources Director Rhonda White for narrowing a list of 116 applicants to six finalists for a day of public interviews on June 20.

The council selected Press as the city’s new police chief on June 22 at an annual salary of $95,000, for a term ending in November 2012, when he will face reappointment by a newly elected council.

Press, 57, retired on March 31 from a 36-year career at the Miami-Dade Police Department, where he served for the past five years as captain in charge of its Crime Scene Investigations bureau.

During his June 20 interview for the job, Press said he would lead a department of “complete transparency.”

He took a step in that direction Wednesday when he announced he would seek national accreditation for the department, which involves scrutiny by the accrediting group and implementation of new procedures, resulting in a more open and accountable system, according the Web site of The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA).

“I’m looking forward to the time when this agency is accredited,” he said. “It’s quite an undertaking and, hopefully, we’ll achieve that within a couple years.”

If that occurs, Fairhope will join Mobile, Huntsville and Birmingham as the only cities in Alabama that have that CALEA accreditation. Three other cities, Dothan, Florence and Talladega, are at a self-assessment stage of the accreditation process,which involves comparing a city’s police department practices with the national standards set out by CALEA.

“Accreditation requires an agency to develop a comprehensive, well thought out, uniform set of written directives,” the CALEA Web site states. “This is one of the most successful methods for reaching administrative and operational goals, while also providing direction to personnel.”

In discussing the challenge of leading an agency where some officers might have wanted a chief hired from within their ranks, Press said that, “I’m sure there were qualified individuals within the department,” adding that he could “only look toward the future.” He also said his leadership style is to involve people in the department to get things done.

After the swearing-in ceremony, a number of local law enforcement officers, and others from around the county, came up to congratulate Press on his new job.

During her opening remarks, Quinn thanked all of the applicants who applied for the job.

“But we knew that only one person could rise to the top,” she said. “We are happy that Bill Press is going to be a member of the Fairhope family.”