By Mark Robinson
There must be something to longevity when it comes to being chief of police in Carmel. Since the evolution from a town to a city in the 1970s, the Carmel Police Department has seen nine men hold the position of chief. All nine are alive today and most remain in the area.
Current in Carmel caught up with seven of the nine to share their recollections as Carmel transformed from a tiny, quiet hamlet to one of the most respected and vibrant suburban locations in the nation. Their stories run the gamut. One took up hammer and nails to help build a police station. Another liked it so much, he served two times as chief. A third learned his term as chief was over the same day of a national disaster. The stories vary, but not their love for the position and the department.
Jim Beard holds the distinction of being Carmel’s last town marshal and first police chief, from 1968-1974, ahead of Carmel officially becoming a fourth-class city in 1976. Now 75 and living in Noblesville, Beard remembers it well.
“I was in there at the time when the chief’s position more or less had to do everything,” Beard said. “You worked nights, days, ballgames, whatever it had to be. When I started, (headquarters) was underneath the water tower downtown on Main Street, we had like a pump house. Then we moved to the water company next to the fire department. In 1970, the town bought the old post office which was on First Avenue and said that’s your police headquarters. We didn’t have anything so we had to get volunteers, hammers and nails, and we built the inside.”
Lee Dolen was part of the fabric of Carmel for 35 years. He worked for the fire, police, street and water departments from 1961-1995. “They tried to get rid of me,” he joked, “and kept pushing me around.”
Dolen spent 20 years with Carmel PD, including about 15 months as chief in 1974-1975. “I would’ve rather been just a regular patrolman instead of chief,” Dolen admitted. “I was asked to take it and took it. When I was replaced, it didn’t bother me a bit.” Dolen remains in Carmel, spending time volunteering for the Carmel Clay Historical Society.
When Carmel became a city on Jan. 1, 1976, first Mayor Albert Pickett asked Gary Barney to take over the police department helm. Barney had joined Carmel PD as its fifth patrolman in 1968 after Beard lured him away from the FBI. Barney served twice as chief, from 1976-1980 and 1988-1991, before he left to become commander of the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. Retired after 46 years in law enforcement and now 71, Barney and his wife of 52 years, Mava, still live in the Carmel home they built in 1968 that was “way out in the country” back then.
“How lucky are we to live in Carmel?” Barney asked rhetorically. “It’s a great place. We raised our three daughters here and now their children are growing up here. I’ve been blessed, I really have.”
Barney considers the current police department headquarters that opened in 1990 under his watch as his crowning achievement. Original plans called for a two-story building but Barney successfully pitched for a three-story headquarters because he foresaw the continued growth of the city and the accompanying need for more police staff.
