Nolensville Chief Roddy Park recently announced that he will officially retire in August after more than four decades in public service.

Parker grew up in Arrington, Tennessee and graduated from Franklin High School. He attended Middle Tennessee State University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

“I was 21 years old at the time. I thought law enforcement was kind of cool, but I only thought I’d try it a couple years then do something else,” he said.

As he began his career, Parker said he always knew one day, he wanted to be a police chief. After retiring as a captain from the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office in 2017, he was able to realize that dream in Nolensville the same year.

“I had gone about as far as I was willing to go at the sheriff’s office unless I moved somewhere else,” he said before reflecting back on his career. “I think it was like 1985, and a local Franklin newspaper would write a man behind the badge article each month. I was quoted as saying, ‘Someday I’d like to be the chief of a small town.’”

As he prepares to leave office, Parker could have reflected on the hundreds of cases he’s been involved with during his tenure. He could have chosen to talk about crime prevention methods or the latest techniques. Instead, he chose to focus on community, and he shared some words of wisdom for his successor.

“You have to be really involved in the community and be willing to not only be a part of the community in that way, but also you have to be hands-on because there’s so many pieces to making a police department run,” he said.

As a smaller law enforcement agency with 18 employees, Parker says Nolensville has a lot of moving parts.

“We don’t have the luxury of having a lot of manpower to do those kinds of things like we want to do,” he said.  “But that’s the fun part of the job is being involved.”

The next chief needs to make sure residents can appreciate Nolensville’s small-town feel without letting their guard down, he said.

“We live in a magical place compared to a lot of other places. But the issue with that is it kind of lulls people into a false sense of ‘it won’t happen here,’” he added. “I think we have to be very vigilant and do everything that we can to ensure our community runs smoothly.”

Nolensville has asked for help from the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) in the search and selection of its next police chief. The process will include an assessment, interviews and final selection by Nolensville Town Manager Victor Lay.

“We will be looking for a candidate who not only has the experience we need for the position, but someone who is a fit for the Town of Nolensville,” Lay said, noting that the hiring process could take a few months.

Parker has agreed to serve until a successor is named and has transitioned into the role.

But he’s looking forward to the day when he can relax.

“While I have my health, I want to be able to do some things like fishing more, taking more trips,” he said.

“I hope that I’ve left this place in better shape than I found it, and I hope I have done something to add to the quality of life in Nolensville,” he said with tears in his eyes. “If I’ve done that, then I’m completely satisfied.”

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee top cop talks about after 46 years on job, being hands on