New police chief appointed in St. Anthony

ST. ANTHONY – A new police chief has been appointed in St. Anthony and he is focused on getting to know the community.

The city appointed Allen Neff as the city’s top cop last month after Terry Harris stepped down.

Neff became the acting chief of police when Harris retired in September. He was officially installed as the new chief in October. Neff worked previously as a patrol sergeant and comes from a military background that includes two deployments.

“In the marines, everyone’s a rifleman. It doesn’t matter what your pay grade is,” Neff tells EastIdahoNews.com. “Even though I’m appointed to Chief of Police, I’m still a patrolman. That’s the way I look at it.”

Neff says he is still learning his new role and wants to keep moving forward in the direction it was going under Harris’s leadership.

“We are here for the community. We’re here to protect and serve and take care of what needs to be addressed. That’s why I want to get out in the community and understand what people’s needs are,” Neff told us.

Meanwhile, Harris says he is staying busy in his retirement. He remains actively involved with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.

Erik Estrada, known for his role in “CHiPs,” helped introduce this program in St. Anthony last summer.

Even though Harris is enjoying retirement, he says he misses his old job.

“It’s a bit of a struggle walking away from it,” Harris says.

Harris was the police chief for 4 years. He worked in law enforcement for 20 years.