CHESAPEAKE — It’s official. Acting Police Chief Dennis Gibson now has the top law enforcement job for the Village of Chesapeake.

At its June meeting, the Village of Chesapeake Council named Gibson to the chief’s post permanently.

“He has been doing a good job and we thought it was time to offer it to him,” Chesapeake Mayor Dick Gilpin said.

Gibson, who had been on the force for the past two decades, was named acting chief in March after then chief Russell Bennett took a retirement buyout from the village that month.

Besides Gibson, the village had interviewed two other candidates: A former parole officer and a sheriff’s deputy.

“They were all good candidates,” Gilpin said. “You just had to pick one.”

Gibson had joined the force in 1979 as an auxiliary. He had a buddy who was in law enforcement and that encouraged the Chesapeake native to look to police work as a career.

He entered Ohio Police Officer Training Academy in 1983 and earned the rank of corporal four years later.

Gibson said he would like to increase the village force and add a four-wheel drive vehicle to aid in 24/7 coverage. As chief Gibson now makes $400 a month, plus $10 an hour for his patrol duties.

“A lot of people in town like him,” Gilpin said. “He has lived in Chesapeake all his life. He knows everybody and is very familiar with the problems in the village.”