Spokane, Wash. — In an unexpected turn of events, the chairwoman of the Police Leadership Advisory Committee resigned Monday, and called on the Spokane mayor to let Ozzie Knezovich run a consolidated, regional police force.

Mary Ann Murphy, the former director of Partners with Families and Children, was quoted by the Spokesman-Review as saying “Most of the citizens in this region trust him. [Letting him run a regional police force is] the single most defensible thing we can do, as a placeholder.”

Knezovich has been persistent in wanting to add the title of police chief to the elected sheriff title he currently holds. This would give him control of the two currently independent agencies, paving the way for their merger into a “metro-style” police force.