Camas police chief announces retirement plans

After 32 years with the Camas Police Department – and 14 years as its chief – Camas Police Chief Mitch Lackey has announced he will retire within the year.

At the Camas City Council meeting held Monday, April 4, Lackey said he had given Camas Mayor Steve Hogan his letter of intent to retire earlier that day. 

The police chief said he plans to keep his position for another 10 months while the city looks for his replacement.

“It has been an honor to serve the city in this capacity all these years,” Lackey said Monday. “I think the timing is right for a switch in the (police) department, and I will work with the mayor and the city administrator so that we have a real smooth transition.” 

Hogan and city councilors – including Councilman Don Chaney, the city’s former police chief – thanked Lackey for his service Monday night, and Hogan said he appreciated the fact that the chief had “given such a (long) lead time to find a replacement.”

Chaney said he appreciated the work Lackey had done as the city’s police chief. 

Lackey joined the Camas Police Department as an officer in 1990, and took over as chief in January 2008, after Chaney’s retirement. 

The chief told The Post-Record this week that now is a good time for him to transition into retirement. 

“We’ve just wrapped up some big projects – re-accreditation, a new labor contract, body cameras – (and) I’ve still got a couple more projects that I will be working on to help facilitate the transition for the next chief,” Lackey said.

Lackey’s department this month became the first police department in Camas to move to a full body-worn camera program.