Joe Kline / The BulletinOutgoing Madras Police Chief Tom Adams holds up a commemorative sculpture given to him by his fellow officers during a retirement ceremony on Friday at Madras City Hall.

MADRAS — In 13 years as chief of the Madras Police Department, Tom Adams never felt quite comfortable answering to “chief.”

Reminiscing with co-workers and friends Friday, his last day after 25 years with the department, Adams said it was always thrilling for him to be sitting in his office and hear someone come into the station asking to speak with “Tom.”

“To me, that meant it was personal, that I had something there,” he said. “That there was a relationship.”

Adams, 54, retired Friday, passing off chief duties to Assistant Chief Tanner Stanfield. At Friday’s reception honoring him at Madras City Hall, Adams turned the tables, praising Stanfield and the rest of the small Madras force for their commitment to fairness and doing the right thing even under difficult circumstances.

“What a fantastic, outstanding crew,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more, you have been like family.”

Adams said he learned how important it was to treat everyone fairly during his first law enforcement job, when he was working as a guard at the Jefferson County jail back in the late 1980s. The jail had no locks on the cell in those days, he said, and Adams remembered the long hours he spent visiting with the inmates, including one particular afternoon they spent watching the Super Bowl together.

“I think what I took from that was respect and getting along,” Adams said. “You avoid confrontation by talking.”

After a stint in the Air Force, Adams followed his parents in moving to Madras in 1984. After working at the Brightwood mill for a time and the job at the jail, he signed on with the Madras Police in 1990. In 2002, then-Chief Enes Smith stepped aside and Adams was named chief.

Jefferson County Sheriff Jim Adkins spent long stretches of the 1990s working alongside Adams as patrol officers for their respective departments and later on a joint narcotics team.

Even back then, Adkins said he and Adams were planning a long, cooperative relationship in law enforcement.

“We’d always talk about advancing, him becoming the chief and me becoming the sheriff,” Adkins said. “Back when we were young pups, that was the dream.”

Incoming Chief Stanfield said Adams has always held every officer in the department in high regard. When the department faced a challenging case, Adams would frequently “roundtable” it, Stanfield said, bringing both senior and junior members of the force together to trade theories and suggest ways of moving the investigation forward.

Stanfield said Adams’ commitment to working as a team will be missed.

“It’s never easy when a brother in blue leaves, but we’ll be left with the memories,” Stanfield said.

Detective Mel Brown said if an officer working an overnight shift was having problems at home or experiencing on-the-job stress, Adams would often show up at the station in the middle of the night, unable to sleep knowing a member of the team was struggling.

As a result of their close relationship, disappointing Adams was like disappointing your own father, Brown said.

“Tom, you’ve been awesome,” Brown said.

So far, Adams has avoided making too many detailed plans for his retirement. He’s hoping to spend more time working in his yard, follow horse racing and maybe teach himself to play the electric guitar. Down the road, he’d like to relocate to Ireland and focus on breeding and training racehorses.

Adams said he’s going to miss the close relationships he’s developed with his colleagues in law enforcement, people around Madras, and even the “frequent fliers” officers have contacted and often arrested over and over again through the years.

“It’s been one heck of a ride, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” he said.

Adams said the department is in good hands as his successor takes the reins.

“It won’t be the same, he’ll have his way — but he’ll maintain that relationship with the community.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0387,

shammers@bendbulletin.com