MARYSVILLE – After eight years as police chief here, Bob Carden is moving on to lead a bigger force in California.
Carden announced Monday that he has accepted a job as police chief with the Visalia Police Department in San Joaquin Valley, where he once served as a police officer and sergeant.
Carden will head a department that has more than twice the number of police officers than Marysville. The California department serves more than 100,000 people.
Carden is expected to leave Marysville by the end of this month.
“We’re going to miss him. He’s done a great job for us, but we can understand why he’s leaving. He’s moving back to where he grew up,” Mayor Dennis Kendall said.
Carden has been in law enforcement for more than 30 years. He became chief in Marysville in 1997.
Under his direction, the department underwent a two-year process to become a state accredited law enforcement agency.
Carden also established a citizens police academy and a program to post officers on the high school and junior high school campuses. He also helped create the department’s police dog program and motorcycle unit and saw the department train its first computer forensics detective, said Doug Buell, city spokesman.
The chief and his wife Debbie also became involved in the community, Buell said.
“We feel very honored that he was with us as long as he was,” Kendall said.
Carden was out of town Monday when his departure was announced. In a press release, he thanked the mayor and the officers and other police department employees for their support and dedication to the community.
A search for a new chief is expected to begin as early as next week, Kendall said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.
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