POULSBO — After a busy first week on the job, interim Poulsbo Police Chief Jake Evans managed to catch his breath for at least a few minutes Monday afternoon.

The week included a bomb threat at city hall, an arson on Bond Road and the aftermath of the March 16 arson fire at Wal-Mart.

Evans began his duties as the head of the city’s police force March 19 after former Police Chief Jeff Doran’s retirement, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be called “chief.”

“I am not the chief,” Evans said. “I am just the caretaker. I fix what needs to be fixed and help them select the new chief.”

Since 1994, Evans has served as the interim head of seven law enforcement agencies including the Port Townsend Police Department in Jefferson County.

Unlike some of his other assignments, where he has stepped into strife-ridden situations, the transition in Poulsbo has been relatively smooth, he said.

“There have been times where I’ve had to take the old chief’s plaques off the wall and mail them to him,” he said. “This one is a lot different than that.”

With more than 40 years experience in law enforcement and working with the state’s accreditation agency, Evans said he looks for areas of improvement and evaluates each department to see what type of chief it needs after he leaves.

So far, Evans said he has found no major issues within the PPD and has been surprised by the depth of experience it has.

“Most small departments have patrol officers with one or two years experience and two or three sergeants with five,” he said. “Here you’ve got two and three times that.”

One of the reasons for the low turnover rate within the department probably has to do with the community itself, he said.

“It looks like a place where people want to live,” he said.

Overall, the department is in good shape from both a personnel and a policies and procedures standpoint, Evans said.

“They seem to be well-trained, and they’ve got good policies and procedures,” he said.

On the issue of whether additional officers are needed, Evans said he hasn’t had enough time to examine all the facets associated with that decision.

Even though the title of chief might cause some officers to stroll through town, Evans said that’s simply not his style.

“I am the caretaker,” Evans said. “It’s the next chief’s job to put his imprint on the department.”