Stephen Almon knows he can’t make everyone happy, but the Oak Harbor Police chief wants the community to understand how and why things are done.

He wants residents to feel some ownership of the department.

In just over eight months at the helm of the department, Almon said he’s been trying to get out into the community. He said he’s participated in as many events as he can. He’s given speeches at numerous civic groups. He’s walked the highway and chatted with engineers in response to complaints.

His latest brainstorm is to write a question-and-answer column in the newspaper to address community concerns. Sort of “Dear Stephen.”

“Someone might have a concern about speeding in a certain neighborhood or they might have a question about a traffic law. They might not understand or realize how we dealt with a problem,” he said. “If there’s one person out there with a question, there’s probably others who are wondering the same thing.”

Almon doesn’t use buzz words like “community-oriented policing,” but he said his goal is to involve the city residents in the department and provide high-level service as economically as possible. “I want to make sure we get the best value for our dollar,” he said.

Almon, an Oklahoma native, came to Oak Harbor from El Reno, Okla., population 17,000, where he was the police chief. Prior to that, Almon was the police chief of the little city of Guthrie, population 12,500.

But the soft-spoken chief is no stranger to big city crime. He spent 20 years on the police force in Wichita, Kansas, in a variety of positions — including patrol officer, homicide detective, lieutenant in narcotics and as a member of the helicopter section. He has a master’s degree in management and a bachelor’s degree in management of human resources.

It’s been an eventful eight months for Almon. This summer there was the department’s first officer-involved shooting that resulted in a death. The department has had to deal with the changes and jitters in response to the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax scare. An officer stopped a truck in the city with suspected terrorists. The FBI busted a child porn operation in the city.

Almon said he’s still getting his sea legs of sorts and hasn’t made any big changes in the department. “It’s always a challenge to learn new laws and ordinances, “ he said. “It’s tremendously different here. I’m getting there, but it’s a slow process.”

He has his work cut out for him. Almon also came into the department during a time of serious city budget problems, which is why he said it’s more important than ever for the residents to feel some sort of connection with the department.

Almon said he’s negotiating with the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance to get out from under the condition of four federal COPS grants. During rosier economic times, the department applied for and received four different grants to fund specific positions within the department — like the drug enforcement officer and the downtown cop.

The problem is the department had to agree to continue funding the positions for a certain number of years after the grant money ran out. But now that the grant money is gone, Almon said the department simply doesn’t have the funds needed to keep the positions.

Almon said these grant officers are needed more on patrol, which is a high priority for him. They still do some of the grant-funded duties, but concentrate more on patrolling the city.

“My goal is to put more people on the street,” he said. “It impacts crime and certainly affects response time.”

If the federal government doesn’t relent on the requirement, Almon said it will be “a real disaster” for the city. But he’s optimistic.

He’s also working at putting in better “fiscal accounting controls” in order to keep better track of how the department uses resources. While he doesn’t complain about staffing levels or turnover — as the old chief did — Almon admits the department isn’t plush.

“I’m in the process of looking at the staffing level, the response times and the types of crimes,” he said. “I know we don’t have too many people. I can very comfortably say that.”

But even with the challenges, Almon said he’s having a great time in his new home and workplace. “My goal is to make a career-oriented department. Where you want to stay for a long time,” he said. “One thing I was really impressed with is the quality of the officers and I haven’t been disappointed.”

He loves the city and the beauty of the Northwest. He recently got a waiver from the city council of the requirement that he live in the city. He and his wife found a home with a water view just outside the city limits.

“It’s a really neat community,” he said. “There are so many activities supported by the community. … That’s why we plan to retire here.”