Paul Hudson and Paul Dean had the word “interim” officially removed from their titles, chief of police and assistant chief of police, respectively.

Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson made the announcement in a press conference at city hall Wednesday.

Hudson and Dean had held the jobs as interims since December.

Hudson, a self-proclaimed “man of few words,” has spent his entire career with the APD. He said he followed his father’s footsteps into law enforcement.

He said he intends to set high goals for members of the APD, and wants each member to be prepared professionally.

“We have a fine training facility,” he said. “We offer training for officers from all over the state. We would to use it to build high quality officers and a professional department.”

Hudson’s father, Dwight Hudson, was on hand for the ceremony. The elder Hudson is a former chief deputy of Crenshaw County and former member of the Greenville Police Department. His son, Josh, works for the Opp Police Department.

Hudson joined the APD in 1994; he and Dean have worked together since 1996.

“When Chief Hudson and I met in 1996, I never thought we’d be standing here today,” Dean said. “We have patrolled the streets together, worked on the Drug Task Force together, and worked together to form the Incident Response Team. We started with six people and it’s now a well-trained, well-equipped group.

City hall was crowded with APD officers, members of the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s office, and the Opp Police Department when the announcement was made.

Johnson said he did not open a search after former Chief Wilbur Williams retired late last year. Johnson said he believes that promoting from within builds morale.

Hiring within also gives the new leader an advantage in that he already knows the community and leaders of other law enforcement agencies.

“The learning curve is not as great as if we hired from anywhere else,” he said.

At the time Hudson and Dean were named to the interim positions, then-Assistant Chief Mike Bowlan director of operations of the Wilbur W. Williams Law Enforcement Training Center and administrative liaison for police affairs for the City of Andalusia. He has since been named head of the city’s water and sewerage department.