“The City of Opelika is fortunate to have Assistant Chief Brown step in and take on the role as Interim Chief,” Fuller said in a release. “I am confident his experience and leadership will serve our community well.”

Brown has been with the Opelika Police Department for 26 years and has served in the traffic unit, patrol unit, canine unit and vice and narcotics unit before he was appointed to assistant chief by McEachern in 2018, officials with the department said.

The city is currently looking for a new police chief and is working through applications received both internally and externally, according to the department. The city hopes to fill the position by the end of next January.

McEachern

“My decision to retire has not been an easy one,” McEachern said in September. “I will forever be grateful to Mayor Gary Fuller and the citizens of Opelika for allowing me to lead the Opelika Police Department and honor the oath to ‘Serve and Protect’.

"I have no doubt that city leadership will hire the best candidate to continue moving Opelika forward.”

McEachern spent more than 46 years in law enforcement. He began his career with the Opelika Police Department in January 1974. He joined the Federal Bureau of Investigations in 1988, spending 24 years in the Pittsburgh Division, Los Angeles Field Office and Mobile Division.