Bentley’s wife Tracy pinned the chief’s badge on his uniform after taking his oath of office. He succeeds retired chief Jeff Kruithoff, who spent the last 21 years as Springboro’s police chief in his 50-year law enforcement career. Bentley said having a police chief who served as long as Kruithoff helped to maintain stability in the department.
A few days into the job, Bentley said “it feels pretty good” and that he feels lucky to have worked with Kruithoff who allowed him to do a lot of things as operations commander and learn how the department works.
“There are no immediate changes on the horizon we’ll continue to emphasize a high importance in training,” he said. “We want to ensure our officers know how to apply our policies in practical situations.”
Bentley said the police department always receives high satisfaction in community surveys.
“We want to focus on training and make sure the officers have the most updated training available,” he said. “We want to make sure our officers are among the best trained in the country.”
Born and raised in Vandalia, Bentley igraduated from Vandalia-Butler High School in 1990 and immediately joined the Army. After completing basic and advanced training, he became a communications specialist and later received Airborne training. He was later selected to go to the First Special Forces Group as a communications expert based in Fort Lewis, Wash.
After completing active duty, which included a number of deployments, he joined the Ohio National Guard and served an additional four years until 1998. Bentley also received various commendations including the Army Commendation Medal and the Army Achievement Medal.
completing the police academy, he joined the Jackson Twp. Police Department in Montgomery County until he was hired by the Springboro Division of Police in 1997.
During his tenure with Springboro police, Bentley as served as a field training officer, a bike officer, and a founding member of the department’s Honor Guard.
Since 2014, Bentley has been the operations commander overseeing the patrol and investigation sections. Kruithoff said Bentley has been a valuable member of the Department Command Staff throughout his tenure as a supervisor.
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