OROVILLE – Oroville Police Chief Mike Langford, who announced at the Oct. 17 city council meeting he intended to retire, has officially done so.

Langford, who has been using up his vacation days, announced on his Facebook page that Nov. 15 was his last day as Oroville’s top law enforcement officer.

“Well, after nearly 27 years in law enforcement, I am hanging it up. I’m popping smoke and calling it quits as of November 15,” wrote Langford.

The police chief discussed his plans to pursue other endeavors outside law enforcement at the October council meeting but was unwilling to discuss specifics at that time, as he was still working on the details.

When contacted by the Gazette-Tribune about whether he was ready to discuss his plans now he replied he was out of town until Wednesday (after press time) and would get back to the newspaper when he returned home.

At the October meeting, Langford discussed his law enforcement service and expressed his appreciation to the city and the community’s citizens for their loyalty during his service as police chief. Mayor Ed Naillon wished Langford the best and stated that the city will hold onto the letter if Chief Langford wished to change his mind.

In a previous discussion with the mayor, he stated that the city could not begin looking for a new police chief until Langford served his last day with the department.

“We will go through the same process we did when we hired Langford. That means the civil service board will begin the process of advertising the position and hiring. We can’t do that until the position is vacant,” said the mayor.

Before serving as the Oroville Police Chief, Langford worked as a deputy for the Chelan County Sheriff’s office and had also served a short while as an officer with Oroville in the early 2000s. In addition to his duties as chief, Langford helped develop a National Night Out event, bringing law enforcement and the community together for an afternoon of games, music, information and food at Prince Heritage Park.

The mayor has appointed Oroville Police Sergeant Gary Hirst as the interim officer in charge of the department while the city seeks a new chief. Hirst was hired as a sergeant in 2023 after serving as an Okanogan County Sheriff’s Deputy. Before working with the county, he was a patrol officer hired by the Oroville Police Department in 2016.

Mayor Naillon said, “Hirst did not feel he had enough experience yet to apply for the police chief’s position.”