On Wednesday, Mayor Carl Redus Jr. appointed an interim chief after recently firing John Howell.
The new man in charge is 60-year-old Collier Hill. He's actually a Pine Bluff native. But he's spent most of his law enforcement career in Arizona.
Thomas Curry wraps up a sale at this menswear store in downtown Pine Bluff, an area he feels is safer with new police support.
"Officers would come by at random times at night and kind of check on the perimeters of stores. They'd leave us a note and tell us they'd been by," Curry said.
Curry hopes programs like that "stay on the rack" under newly- appointed Interim Chief Hill.
"I've always felt strong ties to Pine Bluff," Hill said.
Applause greeted Hill after Redus appointed Hill to his new job.
"He has an excess of 15 years command experience, he's a 30- year law enforcement veteran," Redus said.
Hill spent most of those 30 years in Tucson where he retired as an assistant police chief.
This announcement comes on the heels of the controversial firing of former chief John Howell. He was let go for insubordination issues, according to Redus. Despite some public concern, the mayor feels the community's ready to move on.
"I don't think anyone's interested in what happened in the past, we're looking forward," Redus said.
"Those issues aren't my issues. I want people to judge me by my ability," Hill said.
Hill doesn't plan to apply for the permanent police chief job but will help in that search. He's still working out other goals.
"I need to sit down as I indicated earlier and talk to my employees and citizens to see what they believe the priorities are," Hill said.
Back at Curry's store, he just wants hill to "suit up" and get to work.
"I'm glad to see we have a chief in place, even if it's temporary, because we need some continuity in the police department," Curry said.
Redus said he did look within the police department for an interim chief but he didn't find what he called the "best man for the job."
As for how long Hill will be in this temporary spot, the mayor gave no specific timeline at Wednesday's press conference.
The city will pay hill a flat $76,500 for his work at the police department.