After 26 years in law enforcement, Griffith Police Chief Greg Mance will officially retire on Jan. 10, 2025.
Mance, who has served his entire career with the Griffith Police Department and as its police chief since 2015, recently notified town officials of his plans to retire.
“As I prepare for my retirement from the police department, I am filled with deep gratitude to the Town of Griffith, the officers, staff and the people who live and work here,” Mance said. “Together, we’ve built strong partnerships, implemented new technologies and achieved a reduction in crime rates not seen in decades.”
Mance said that he’s been fortunate to have had many mentors throughout his law enforcement career — which began as a 14-year-old Explorer scout — who have shaped his life and professional path.
“I will forever be indebted to them, my officers and the Griffith community for their unwavering support,” he said. “The Region is home to an incredible network of local, county, state and federal law enforcement officials, all working tirelessly to keep our communities safe. I’m extremely proud to have had the privilege of working alongside so many profoundly great and noble people.”
Mance believes that he leaves the Griffith Police Department better than he found it, emphasizing a significant drop in the local crime rate and a variety of accomplishments. He pointed to the construction of a new animal shelter in 2024, the adoption of modern policing technologies and that Griffith was one of the first communities in the state of Indiana to staff a police department with a full-time social worker.
The idea, he explained, was to give sensitive or recurring issues to someone professional trained to resolve conflicts and enable people to get the help they needed, such as for substance abuse.
“When I first started (as police chief), the best we could do for people for the most part was provide them with a pamphlet for a service,” he said. “When people or families are in a crisis it’s hard to navigate everyday life.”
Mance believes the next police chief will face many of the same challenges as he did, namely, recruiting new officers who have a passion and disposition for the job.
“I think that our department has many qualified candidates, very professional officers, who I think are ready for that challenge if they apply for it,” he said.
Griffith Town Council President Rick Ryfa, R-3rd, said the town will recruit for the position both inside and outside the department. It won’t be a requirement that a candidate had already served as a police chief, he said.
“We will be working on a job description and anticipate posting something sometime in September,” Ryfa said. “We hope that there will be an internal candidate that would come forward and be qualified. But it is a government position, and it’s open for anybody to apply from both inside and outside the agency.”
Ryfa said Mance has done much to take policing and public safety in Griffith in a positive, new direction.
“When he became police chief, the morale among police officers was at a very low level, and unfortunately, crime was at a very high level,” Ryfa said. “So, he immediately enacted a lot of different initiatives using technology, different types of policing, and introducing a lot of other initiatives that led to reduced crime. That kind of snowballed and the morale became great. Our officers love working here.”
Councilman Jim Marker, R-1st, served on the Griffith Safety Board, which had recommended Mance’s hiring as police chief in 2015. He said Mance’s accomplishments are numerous.
“Chief Greg Mance served our Griffith community with dignity and dedication,” Marker said. “Among his many accomplishments is pioneering a social worker program within the police department. Additionally, he led the Major Crimes Task Force, increased the police department’s social media interaction and built the K-9 program to include a comfort canine, Murphee. Under his leadership, our animal shelter has a new building and is staffed with superb voluntary force.”
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
