American Falls’ top cop Brandon Wilkinson became the longest actively serving police chief in Idaho when Dan Hall retired on Friday after 18 years of leading Jerome’s police force.

Wilkinson — who moved to Power County from West Jordan, Utah, in 2006 — is in his 16th year as American Falls’ police chief.

Wilkinson previously worked as a patrol officer and then a detective for the West Jordan Police Department from 1997 to 2006 and says the transition from serving a population of 100,000 to one of approximately 4,500 was initially a daunting one, but one he came to love over time.

“You know, I was young and scared going from a large police agency to a different state with a smaller agency,” he said. “But it was easy to fall in love with American Falls, and it’s amazing how much you can love a place, and the best reward is when you receive that love back.”

Serving a small community like American Falls comes with its own set of challenges, Wilkinson explained.

“It’s really hard — and I give our officers all the credit in the world — to work for a small department,” he said. “Because as small as you are, you get to know everybody and when tragedy strikes it’s hard, it’s very difficult because we have personal ties to the people that we serve.”

Over the years, Wilkinson has forged strong relationships with other agencies around the area and attributes much of his success to their assistance and guidance, saying that whenever he’s stumped on making a decision they are there to offer advice.

“The best part of being in Southeastern Idaho is it’s really so nice that I can reach out to so many different agencies and get help and receive advice,” he said. “And I’ve been really fortunate to work with a lot of chiefs and sheriffs in our area who have served … and that’s one of the blessings is that you can call any of them up and receive some really good advice.”

Wilkinson plans to continue to serve the community as police chief as well as enjoy fishing and golfing and raising his three children and watching them participate in sports.

“I’ve still got a little ways out before retirement, so one thing I’ve always told each mayor that I’ve worked for is I only want to be here if I’m wanted, and as long as I’m wanted, I’m more than happy to stay,” he said.