TAFT, Calif. (KERO) — Taft Police Chief Damon McMinn is preparing to retire nearly nine years leading the department, capping a career that came full circle as he followed in his father's footsteps.
"I was gonna do five years, but I've been here nine years," McMinn said.
When McMinn took the job, it was a return to the city where he started in corrections and a chance to follow in his father's footsteps.
"It was more of a nostalgia thing that my father had set his roots here and ended his career as chief, and it was just something I thought, you know, I really wanted to do," McMinn said.
His own career had taken him to Porterville as a police officer, then to the Kern County Sheriff's Office for more than 16 years. In 2018, he came back to Taft.
McMinn says he has since helped bring computers into patrol cars, pushed for body cameras and upgraded the police facility.
"Body worn cameras, great for the law enforcement. That was one of the things I pushed for immediately coming here," McMinn said.
Now, he's preparing for another change.
"My wife is getting to that point where she's wanting to retire and she wants to travel. I've done this for 35 plus years when you add corrections involved in it. And I'm still healthy. I still feel young," McMinn said.
After a career that brought him back to his father's department, McMinn is looking forward to more time with his own family; his wife and two children.
The city is accepting applications for its next police chief and correctional warden, with the position open until filled. McMinn plans to stay on temporarily to help with that transition.
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