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Kim Crannis was named Wednesday morning as Blacksburg's new police chief.

Kim Crannis, a 22-year veteran of the Blacksburg Police Department, was named the town's first female police chief Wednesday. She joins only one other female municipal chief and a handful of female university police chiefs in the state.

Crannis is out of the office this week and couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday.

"Kim Crannis is a leader," former chief Bill Brown said. "She has all the skills and abilities to be the perfect chief for the town of Blacksburg."

One of two officers who have alternated as interim chief since this summer, when Brown retired, Crannis will officially begin her new role Oct. 24 after a ceremony at a Blacksburg Town Council meeting.

In her new position, Crannis will earn $86,166 and oversee the department's 57 sworn officers and 17 full-time civilian support staff.

She has served with the department since 1984, most recently as a captain. She has also been a crime prevention officer, a platoon commander and operations division commander and has been in charge of department professional standards.

She replaces Brown, who was the department's first black chief and who retired at the end of June after 26 years with the force, including 12 as chief.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Brown recalled that when he was named chief in 1994, he said at a staff meeting that his goal was to "train and mentor and groom them to step up to the next level."

At a meeting soon after, he asked if any officers wanted to go to the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy. Crannis, he said, "was the only one that raised her hand."

Since Brown's retirement, Crannis and Capt. Sam Bishop have alternated as acting chiefs.

Crannis was selected for the job from a pool of 52 applicants from all over the country, including four from within the department.

The town had planned to name a new chief in late August, but it took longer than expected to go through all the applications, Town Manager Marc Verniel said Wednesday.

From the original pool of applicants, 13 were chosen for video interviews. Four were then chosen as finalists.

Each finalist interviewed with several different panels that included Verniel, the town's management staff, area law enforcement and EMS personnel, residents, business leaders, representatives of Virginia Tech and other area governments as well as employees of the police department, Verniel said.

"We went through a thorough screening process and Kim really rose to the top," he said.

"She's tough, and I mean that in a good way," said Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police. "She's extremely dedicated to policing and professionalism in policing."

Schrad said it was nice to have another female chief in the state. There is only one other female municipal chief, Connie Novak of the Warrenton Police Department.

Crannis has an undergraduate degree in public administration from Ferrum College and a masters in public administration from Virginia Tech. She is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Professional Executive Leadership School.

She is a member of the FBI National Academy Associates, the Mid Atlantic and National Associations of Women in Law Enforcement and the Virginia and Blue Ridge Associations of the Chiefs of Police.

Crannis serves on the board of directors for the New River Valley Women's Resource Center and the New River Valley Alcohol Safety Awareness Program, for which she also serves as an instructor. She also has worked as an assessor for the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.