RINGLING, OK ― For almost a month and a half, the small town of Ringling, Oklahoma, has been without local law enforcement, but a new police chief took the reins Wednesday. Shelby Levins has the story.

The Ringling Police Department is back in business. Lee Aston is Ringling’s new police chief. Wednesday, April 1, marks his first day on the job.

“I want to try to restore the trust of the police department in the community,” Aston says.

Aston may be new to the town of Ringling, but he is no stranger to law enforcement. He has wanted to be an officer his whole life.

Working as a military police officer and most recently as a deputy for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, Aston says he knows there is a lot of work ahead of him, but he says he is ready for the challenge.

“To build a department that the people can not be scared of. They can walk out and say hi, not see a police car coming and run the other direction.”

Aston's first order of business was getting the new police car outfitted to get it on the streets. He says he has starting from the ground up to get the city's police department back on its feet.

So what do the citizens of Ringling think?

“He’s an outsider, and he can look at things differently than someone that's here, that's inside,” longtime Ringling resident Rita Morris says.

Most people we talked to say while they don't know Aston very well yet, they are excited to have a new chief in town.

Aston says that's just what the town deserves.

“They deserve somebody that's going to give back to them. That's why I’m in this. I enjoy giving back to the community and helping people out. I wouldn't be doing it otherwise. I don't see myself doing anything else,” he says.

As for replacing the city's open mayoral position, Ringling will elect two new Board of Trustee members next Tuesday. They will appoint a new mayor later this month.