Officials in Dodge City will soon begin looking for a new police chief.

City officials said Wednesday that Chief Craig Mellecker has announced he’ll retire in March 2014 after 30 years with the police department.

Mellecker was appointed chief in 2011. City manager Ken Strobel says officials knew at the time that Mellecker would be retiring within a few years, but they were confident about what he could accomplish.

As chief, Strobel says, Mellecker has expanded the school resource officer program and a gang resistance education program to elementary and middle schools. He also implemented a digital ticketing system.

Mellecker was serving as a lieutenant when he became police chief.