McKinney has a new police chief.

On Wednesday, Interim City Manager Tom Muehlenbeck announced the selection of Greg Conley as chief of the McKinney Police Department after a national search.

Conley will start his position by April 15.

Conley comes to McKinney from the Garland Police Department, where he has been serving as assistant police chief since 2000. He joined the department in 1992 after starting his law enforcement career at the Mesquite Police Department in 1988.

The job search was conducted by the Mercer Group, Inc., a private executive recruiting firm. Resident feedback was used in the search following a series of public input meetings held in October; they also had a chance to meet the finalists on March 4.

"Chief Conley has the integrity, strength of character, and wealth of experience we were looking for," Muehlenbeck said. "He is a proven consensus builder, and we believe he is the best fit for the future of the McKinney Police Department."

Conley is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Executive Research Forum, Texas Police Chiefs Association and the North Texas Crime Commission. He has a masters degree in criminal justice from the University of Texas at Arlington and a bachelors degree in theology from Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri.

Other finalists included Randy Roland, the current McKinney assistant police chief; John Ray, the executive chief deputy for the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office; and Mark McCrory, the Tulsa, Okla., deputy chief.

Another finalist, Southlake Police Chief Stephen Mylett, withdrew from the search March 2 after accepting a job as the chief of police in Bellevue, Washington.