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Wendell Brantley, Fairmount Heights' police chief, will be on double duty for two months as he will also serve as the acting chief in the Seat Pleasant Police Department.

On March 9, the Seat Pleasant City Council approved Brantley to be acting chief for 60 days as the city searches for a permanent replacement. Brantley said he was a lieutenant in the Seat Pleasant Police Department from 2005 until 2008. He became Fairmount Heights' police chief in January 2008.

"My function there at Seat Pleasant is to give them the guidance that they need to keep things operating smoothly and to be that person where you have to have that last line of discipline to make sure the officers are operating appropriately," Brantley said.

Brantley said he decided to step in once former chief Elliott Taylor resigned in November 2008 to work for the Metropolitan Police Department and deputy chief Warren Finkelman left in February 2009. Finkelman is now with the U.S. Department of State.

Brantley said there is a memorandum of understanding between the town of Fairmount Heights and city of Seat Pleasant that gives officers from both departments the authority to police residents in both municipalities. There are five officers on the Fairmount Heights force, including Brantley, and 14 on the Seat Pleasant force.

"It's a way of increasing cooperation but a lot of these departments deal with manpower issues so that's a way they'll be protected civically under that agreement," Brantley said.

Councilman Reveral Yeargin (Ward 3) said he is open to anything Brantley wants to implement and likes the idea of both departments working together. Yeargin is also the city's public safety chairman.

"It goes beyond just policing," Yeargin said. "It connects the region."

One of Brantley's first tasks includes fleshing out city crime statistics with data from county police. Because the Seat Pleasant force operates 20 hours a day, seven days a week, Prince George's County police handle calls during the four hours where Seat Pleasant officers are not on duty. Brantley said once he begins mapping out crime he will have a better idea of what problems officers need to focus on.

Brantley added that he's working on making Seat Pleasant crime statistics available through the Web site Crimereports.com so residents can track incidents near their homes as they happen. Brantley said he has not had time yet to do a crime analysis but with completed statistics will have a better idea of how crime currently is in Seat Pleasant.

"Overall we want to deal with any violent crimes, assaults [and] robberies," Brantley said. "And of course the breaking and entering which is a problem throughout the county which normally takes place during the day time when people are at work."

With budget season approaching, Brantley said he will also push for pay raises for officers, something he called "a long time coming." Brantley declined to say how much higher he wants to see salaries rise. Yeargin said the average entry level salary is between $28,900 and $32,000 for a Seat Pleasant officer.

Seat Pleasant resident Jacqui Battle remembers Brantley during his time in Seat Pleasant and called him an "all around good guy" who is knowledgeable about code enforcement and had a personal touch, such as offering to sit and patrol criminal activity on her own street.

Battle said one problem she wants to see addressed is speeding on side streets, particularly because she lives in front of a playground on 70th Street where children play.

"I'm always afraid that somebody's child is going to get hit," Battle said.

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.