By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Port Royal has a new police chief.
Jeffery Meyers, who recently retired as Deputy Chief of Fort Myers Police Department in Florida, has been hired for the job left vacant when former chief Alan Beach retired earlier this month.
Meyers worked for the Fort Myers Police Department from 2018 to 2023.
Before that, he spent 24 years working with the South Euclid, Ohio, Police Department.
He graduated from the FBI National Academy and Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command and holds a degree in Criminal Law from Bowling Green State University.
Town Manager Van Willis said that what Meyers offered was “exactly what we were looking for.”
“He is obviously very professional and competent, his experiences were fairly broad – he basically was an expert in a lot of things we were seeking in a candidate in terms of recruitment and retention as well as having a knowledge of emergency management,” said Willis.
Ultimately the decision of who to hire falls to Willis as town manager, but he said that the way that Meyers interacted with the public and council members during the meet and greet on Sept. 11 in Port Royal solidified to him that he had made the right decision.
“He was what we were looking for right now,” Willis said.
The other two candidates for the job, were Port Royal Capt. Andre Massey, who was the only internal candidate who was a finalist, and Kevin Pierce, retired Chief of Police for Borough of South Coatesville Police Department in Coatesville, Pa.
“We would have been well served by any of the three,’ said Willis. “But right now, Jeff is a good fit for us.”
Willis said the goal is to have Meyers start in his new position on Oct. 14.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
