Frank Straub, head of the White Plains, N.Y., public safety department, will assume that position in Indianapolis, reports the Indianapolis Star. Straub, 51, left the White Plains job last month after seven years in a disagreement with that city’s council over experimental work schedules for police and firefighters.
Straub, who must deal with cracking the city’s tight-knit police and fire ranks while balancing politically tinged community interests, is known for his cool under fire and likability among the rank and file. Straub, who was hired to train New York City police officers after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is alaos a faculty member at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “One of Frank’s strengths is that he’s a great listener and a great learner,” said William Bratton, former chief of the Los Angeles and New York City police departments, who has known Straub since the early 1990s.