Farewell to the chief

Jacksboro Police Chief Terry McDaniel, 53, is retiring today, after serving 7 years as the city’s top cop.

McDaniel has spent 28 years in law enforcement, 22 of those, Jack County has been in his jurisdiction.

He began his career in law enforcement July 7, 1989 in Jacksboro where he grew up following in the footsteps of several relatives.

“I’ve had a lot of family that’s been in law enforcement back into the late 1800s,” McDaniel said. “Mainly I wanted a steady paycheck. My wife and I were wanting to get married and the oil field, you’d go to work for a company and six months later, they’d fold. You’d go to work for another company and six months later, they’d fold. I didn’t want to get married until I got a reliable paycheck and I started in 1989 and we got married in May 1990. She’s spent 27 years as a cop’s wife.”

He served as a patrol officer for 3 years for Jacksboro Police Department before joining the Cross Timbers Narcotics Task Force out of Weatherford as a narcotics investigator. The task force covered Palo Pinto, Parker, Young and Jack counties. 

McDaniel spent 11 1/2 years with the task force, with 8 years of that as the unit’s deputy commander.

He left Cross Timbers to take a job with the Saginaw Police Department to spend more time with his family.

“When I left the narcotics task force, my kids were 2 and 4 and I never saw them,” McDaniel said.

He spent close to 8 years as a patrol officer and training officer in Saginaw, but still lived in Jacksboro, when he was asked if he was interested in the JPD chief position.

“I got a call one night from a then city council member who asked if they could put my name in the hat for chief of police,” McDaniel said. “Eventually, I accepted the position and started in July of 2010.”

He said he took the job because he wanted to protect and serve the community he calls home.

“Jacksboro’s my hometown. I was born and raised here. My wife and I discussed it and I told her I could be a police officer anywhere but this is home,” McDaniel said. “I have a vested interest in the community and if I could help make the community better, I decided to do it.”

To read the complete article, see the June 30 edition of the Herald-Gazette.