SUMMERDALE, Ala. - Frankie "Eddie" Ingram has one promise to the residents of Summerdale: expect an honest, hard-working police department.

"One they can trust," Ingram said.

Ingram was appointed the new police chief of the town of Summerdale Monday, with the council voting unanimously in favor of making him the new head of the police department. This decision came almost three months after the council voted unanimously to fire Dwain Riebeling as the town's police chief. The drama between Mayor David Wilson and Riebeling is well documented, and there were rumblings of possibly disbanding the department and leaving the area to be patrolled by Baldwin County Sheriff's Department deputies.

But, what is past is past in Ingram's mind, and he only wants to look towards the future and move on.

"We started (Monday) night at 6:30 p.m. All the officers here are on equal ground," Ingram said. "We're going to start it clean with everybody."

New chief's plans

Ingram's goal for the department is to "make it the best it can be," and one of the ways he plans to do that is through training the department in everything ranging from SWAT to pursuit driving and combat pistol to sniping.

"The better trained your officers are, the better they can serve the community," he said. "The training has changed a lot over the last two or three decades. Fortunately, folks like myself and (Foley Police Chief David Wilson) live long enough to make a change in some of the things.

"When I started in 1979, I was trained by somebody that was trained in 1969, who was trained by somebody that never was trained. The training was all the same, and basically we were training officers to die."

Ingram has 32 years of experience in police, and he said agencies not being well trained is an issue.

"It gets your folks killed. I've been on the scene where several officers have been shot," he said, noting he thinks around 80 percent of law enforcement officers being shot could have been prevented if proper training was conducted.

One of his goals for the first few weeks is to "know everyone in this town on a first-name basis," but also to go to the churches and schools with different programs, including a neighborhood watch type program. He said he would be the one to visit the schools and would have an officer present at the schools as a presence.

"The kids are most important. I know it sounds cheesy and everybody says that, but we've got to protect our children," he said.

Ingram also predicts drug arrests to rise in the town, and he claims drugs are a problem "everywhere." To help fund the police department and its efforts, he plans to get money from the drug dealers and carriers instead of taking money from the residents through taxes

"If we can bust them and they've got property or finances that we can seize, we're going to seize it," he said. "We're going to have zero tolerance for drugs. Period."

Regardless of what Ingram called a "small staff," he only had compliments for the quality of the police department facility and the town council and mayor.

"I've never seen a building this nice for a department this small," he said. "I'm very impressed (with the council)…Everybody seems down to earth and honest. They do genuinely care about the city."

Birthday present

Ingram was sworn in as Summerdale police chief on his 51st birthday, a nice birthday present to kick off his stay in the town. However, he is already looking into the future.

"There are going to be some changes. There is going to be accountability. If you want to work and are an honest, hard working cop, you will love working for me," he said, noting he plans to lead the department "from the front" instead to "pushing from the rear.

"I hope the residents here give me a chance."

Ingram told The Foley Onlooker to include his work cell phone number, so residents would have another way to contact him if there is ever a problem. His phone number is (251) 747-0816.

Ingram hails from Ashford, Ala. and previously worked in Dothan, Ala. He said he made the decision to try and move to the area after he did not receive the Dothan Sheriff position and because he has a daughter and grandchildren living in Loxley. He worked as a special agent in the 35th Judicial Drug Task Force in Monroeville, Ala. He has worked as chief deputy of county sheriff's offices in Georgia and Alabama. His application states he received the Law Enforcement Silver Star for bravery and the Medal of Honor for responding to a call April 24, 2009 where two officers had been shot, one killed and one seriously injured, and taking action to incapacitate the suspect and rendering aid to the wounded officer.