The Bella Vista Police Department got together for chief Ken Farmer's retirement last Friday afternoon.
Farmer, who has been with the department 32 years and served as its chief since 2009, was honored and presented with memorabilia from his career, including a replica squad car, his badge and a firearm used in the first murder case he worked.
Farmer said that he was humbled to see so many people come to the ceremony.
While the party was last week, he said, he's still working the rest of this month.
"But June first, I'm going to sleep in," he said.
He also intends to go on vacation with his family this summer, he said, and he's planning a motorcycle trip in the foreseeable future as well.
Farmer said he has confidence in incoming chief James Graves and he expects the department to do well under his leadership.
Capt. Tim Cook described the party as bittersweet -- he was glad, he said, that his friend and coworker was able to retire, but he expects to miss working with him.
"He has been a great mentor to all of us," Cook said.
Mayor Peter Christie said that he was proud of Farmer's work and that he did a remarkable job as the city's chief.
In particular, he said, he was proud of the level of community outreach the department performed under Farmer's leadership, including the addition of a Citizens Police Academy last year.
"He never hesitated to go out and talk to anybody," Christie said.
Christie presented Farmer with his badge and a revolver that was seized as part of a 1986 murder case he worked on and helped solve.
Mark Whittlesey, radio club treasurer, also presented Farmer with a cash gift on behalf of his club. Farmer, he said, has been a member of the club and contributed a great deal to it over the years, and the members wanted to give him something in return.
Jack Fellenzer, chairman of the public safety committee, also presented the retiring chief with a gift -- a set of car keys to go with a scale model Dodge Charger squad car.
"I'd like to present it to the chief," he said. "And if you get bored, you can take it out of the case and play with it."
Sgt Eric Palmer said he joined the department shortly before Farmer became chief and he was proud of his soon-to-be-former coworker.
"Ken accomplished a lot," he said, "and my hope is that we can continue to build."
One attendee, Bob Rishel, of the Honor Guard, said that while he did not get notified of the party as early as he'd like, he and other Honor Guard members, he said, came to pay their respects to Farmer.
It still proved a good time, he said, but it was somewhat short. There was a lot more to the retiring chief's career that could have been talked about, he said.
But he was still glad, he said, to see the city recognizing Farmer.
"The man deserves every ... bit of it," he said.
General News on 05/24/2017