CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (WSYX) — Circleville City Council brings resources to “clean house” in the police department. This comes as the saga continues as two other officers were recently fired for misconduct.

These layoffs come just months after the city got rid of its police chief, deputy police chief, safety director and K-9 officer.

All of those moves were city payoffs, except for the former safety director.

During this week’s council meeting, it was announced that a former Ohio Highway Patrol commander has been hired to clean things up.

On Tuesday night, the board introduced Paul Pride.

Pride lives in Baltimore, Ohio. He is a 7-year veteran of the Navy and spent 20 years as a commander and more for the OSHP.

He shared his improvement plan for the department, saying these recent layoffs are an opportunity to start with a clean slate.

“I think the toxicity is gone and I think you have a clean slate,” Pride told the city council.

Pride, a decorated former civil servant, was brought in by the city council to clean up the house at Circleville Police.

Pride spoke for more than an hour Tuesday night with a list of things he feels the department can improve, such as training and accountability.

“Training has been neglected in your police department. The average years of service for officers there is two years. They are very young, which can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. When I ask a certain question, I look like a deer in the headlights because I don’t know what I’m talking about, and that’s not their fault. This is a failure of the previous administration,” Pride added in his presentation to council.

First on his list was to find out where the department was. Pride says day-to-day operations are nowhere near POS.

“How do you know what to do every day when you come in? How do you know what needs to be done, who needs to do it? And how do you know how often? This is a tracking system. One of those doesn’t exist in your police department.”

Pride shared that the work has already begun, and not just with the officers.

He said building improvements are also a priority, which he attributes to a better work environment.

Current safety director Robert Ware says he feels Pride is the man for the job.

“I want the public to know that I am determined to remove anyone who does harm. They have a right to have a premier police agency here, and that’s why I’m here, to build one,” Ware said.