PRICHARD, Ala. — Bart Andrews spent 10 years with the Prichard Police Department before leaving as a detective sergeant. He is now with the Dauphin Island Police Department. As of Thursday night, he is asking city leaders for another shot at serving Prichard — this time as chief of police.
“God gets you ready for some point in your life and I think all the experience, the tough times, the good times have gotten me where I am right now,” Andrews said. “And I believe I’m at least a decent candidate for the chief of police for the city of Prichard.”
Andrews made his case to some city leaders during Thursday night’s council meeting. On Friday morning, he interviewed with the consultant group POLIHIRE, which is helping the city search for its next police chief.
A Familiar Face
Andrews is already known in the community. In 2020, he helped locate a missing two-year-old child. He said one of his proudest assignments was spending six years as a detective with the Child Advocacy Center.
“I had the best job there for six years. I was the detective for the Child Advocacy Center and they’re not going to put anyone without great integrity there,” he said.
Child advocacy center assignments are among the more selective detective postings in local law enforcement. The centers coordinate the investigation of child abuse cases across agencies — police, prosecutors, medical providers and child welfare workers — and the detectives assigned to them are vetted for both investigative skill and temperament.
The Department He Wants to Lead
Andrews said it has been heartbreaking to watch the department he once loved become associated with corruption and arrests in recent months.
He said turning it around starts with investing in the people wearing the badge.
“I’ve been around to a couple of departments and the big thing is the pay,” Andrews said. “We’ve got to get them there, we’ve got to keep them there.”
The recruitment-and-retention problem he describes is the structural issue facing small municipal departments throughout the region. Agencies that cannot match neighboring pay scales end up functioning as training grounds: they hire and certify officers who leave for better-paying departments within a few years, which keeps the average experience level low and the training budget permanently committed to replacing people rather than developing them.
Equipment, Relationships and Accountability
Andrews said better equipment, stronger community relationships and real accountability would also be priorities. That includes keeping track of how taxpayer money is spent and how evidence is handled.
“My goal is transparency and ensuring the taxpayer dollars entrusted to me and the police department can be accounted for,” he said.
Naming evidence handling specifically is a substantive commitment rather than a general one. Evidence room management — chain of custody, documented intake, periodic audits, controlled access and documented disposal — is a recurring failure point in departments that face integrity problems, and it is one of the areas where an incoming chief can implement verifiable change relatively quickly.
A Tactical Team for High-Risk Warrants
Andrews said he would also like to see a tactical team created to handle high-risk search warrants.
“As a detective there for six years, I know there’s enough search warrants there that need to be executed that we need a tactical team,” he said. “One, it keeps the citizens safer because the officers who are tactical trained are more confident in themselves and confident on the street.”
The argument he is making is the standard one in favor of specialized warrant service: officers with dedicated training handle high-risk entries with more deliberate planning, clearer role assignment and better-rehearsed procedures than a group of patrol officers assembled for the occasion. Many departments of Prichard’s size address this through a regional or multi-agency team rather than a standing internal unit, which reduces cost while preserving the training standard.
The Search Process
The city has engaged POLIHIRE, a consultant group, to assist in the search for its next police chief. Using an outside firm is a common approach for municipalities recruiting for a chief’s position, particularly where the department has recently faced public scrutiny — the consultant handles candidate sourcing, background screening and structured interviews, and provides a documented process the city can point to afterward.
City leaders have not announced when they expect to make a final decision.
“I’m Ready If They’ll Give Me a Shot”
Andrews said he is not simply asking for a title. He said he is asking for the opportunity to return to a department he knows and help build it back into one Prichard can be proud of.
“I feel like everything in my life has gotten me to this point, so I’m ready if they’ll give me a shot,” he said.