The Scottsbluff City Council has approved the hiring of a police chief and has shelved plans for consolidating police operations.

On Monday the council endorsed the selection of Kevin Spencer, who’s spent 11 years on the city’s force.

In one of its first directives to Spencer, the council asked him to compile the consolidation research for future use by local residents and the council.

Mayor Randy Meininger says there has been scant support for the latest proposal to fold the Scottsbluff and Gering police forces into the Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office.