New police chief discusses his history, policing approach

On June 24, Donnell Tanksley was sworn in as Blaine’s new police chief.

Tanksley, or “Tank” as he says most people call him, was previously the chief of police for Portland State University in Oregon since 2017. Prior to that, he was the assistant chief of police for Western Washington University for over three years. Tanksley was with the St. Louis Metropolitan police department in Missouri from 1993 to 2014, and held the position of commander from 2007 to 2014.