Twenty-seven years after he started as a Vancouver patrol officer, Troy Price took his oath of office as the city’s newest police chief Monday.
The council chambers at Vancouver City Hall filled with people for the ceremony. Many wore uniforms with badges from Vancouver police, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, Vancouver Fire Department, Battle Ground Police Department and Washington State Patrol. Price’s parents flew from Chicago to attend.
Price said policing has changed during his 30-some years in law enforcement.
“I’m proud to be part of this next phase in the Vancouver Police Department, because there’s a community out here of 200,000 strong that are relying on us to keep the spirit of Vancouver alive, to make this the safest urban city in the state of Washington, and to do what we can for this community, for the next generation,” Price said.
City Manager Lon Pluckhahn said he was proud to have “one of our own” in the chief’s role.
“All of those prior promotions have led to him being ready and prepared to be able to assume this role for our community,” Pluckhahn said.
Price has been the acting chief since Jeff Mori retired Oct. 11. Before that, he worked under Mori as the department’s deputy chief.
“This is kind of unique in that Chief Mori and I worked closely together, and his priorities that he established were ones that he and I wrote together,” Price told The Columbian in an interview before the ceremony. “I want to continue that, because we’re just not there yet.”
When asked if the post felt like a long time coming, Price said he doesn’t look at it as something that was owed to him. Instead, he called the office a “privilege and an honor.”
“My whole career, I wanted to work my way up and have greater responsibility and greater ability to shape the direction of a department and so I’m happy the opportunity’s come along,” Price said.
He said he knows he’s taking over during tight financial times. The city struggled to balance its 2025-26 budget amid a $43 million deficit. Price also takes over on the heels of the failure of the city’ Proposition 4, which aimed to boost the agency’s staffing by 80 officers and more than 30 nonsworn positions.
Price said he plans to talk to more voters and work with other agencies in the justice system with the aim of coming back to voters with a “more holistic” ballot measure in the future.
He also said he intends to continue working toward filling the department’s vacancies and leveraging technology, such as drones, when there aren’t enough officers to go around.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, but this is a great place to serve, and I’m honored,” Price said at Monday’s ceremony. “I’m honored to be your police chief.”
