Ian Bailey saw the opening for the Monongah police chief position on Facebook and applied for the job.

Since 2016, the Morgantown native had been working in the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana as a sheriff’s deputy. Before that, he was in military law enforcement as a staff sergeant from 2007-2015 at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia.

Bailey, who met Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Riffle and others during a meet and greet in Monongah, said there are great people in Monongah.

Chief Bailey said he would like to start outreach programs at Monongah Middle School.

Monongah mayor Johnboy Palmer calls Chief Bailey “a great asset to the community and for the town, for sure.”

Bailey has two sons, a 9-year-old and a 5-year-old.