Former police chief named Chief of Staff to City Manager

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - Topeka City Manager Brent Trout announced during the Topeka City Council meeting on Tuesday that retired Police Chief Bill Cochran will become Chief of Staff to the City Manager.

Chief Bill Cochran announced his retirement from the police department on Sept. 8th, 2020.

Cochran was a Topeka police officer since 1987 was appointed interim chief by City Manager Brent Trout in November 2017. He was officially named Topeka Chief of Police in January 2018.

According to an online posting for the job of chief of staff, the position pays anywhere from $125,000 to $135,000 annually.

The ad also indicates certain duties for the job such as:

• Builds strong relationships with department directors across the organization in order to influence outcomes and maintain momentum and to collaborate with Governing Body and the City Manager to achieve desired outcomes.
• Perform highly responsible professional administrative liaison, staff, and managerial work in carrying out a wide variety of activities relating to organizing, coordinating, and implementing management projects at the direction of the City Manager.
• Coordinating outreach for the City Manager to neighborhoods, groups, and organizations.
• Works with the City Manager and the Governing Body to set strategic priorities.

The city of Topeka had advertised the position online however the posting expired today, Feb. 10.