PORTLAND – Like his dad, Mike Chitwood Jr. was arguably the most recognizable face in Philadelphia’s 6,000-member Police Department, a decorated officer who spent the better part of two decades chasing down killers and drug dealers.

Now, in another striking similarity, Chitwood is leaving big-city police work to serve as chief in Shawnee, Okla., a prairie town that usually has only a few murders a year. He will lead a force of 52 officers and 19 civilians.

His move mirrors that of Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood Sr., now 61, who earned his tough reputation during 19 years in Philadelphia, where he was a homicide detective. He left the city at age 39 to head the force in nearby Middletown Township. Five years later, he became Portland’s chief, a post he holds today.

Chitwood Jr., 41, a homicide division lieutenant in Philadelphia, said he began to send out resumes this year after finally getting his bachelor’s degree. He applied for a dozen jobs, from Lacey, Wash., to Mashpee, Mass., before accepting the Shawnee offer.

“It certainly was not planned that way,” Chitwood Jr. told a Maine newspaper from Oklahoma, where he was hunting for a home. “I always thought I would hang out in Philly until I was 50.”

The senior Chitwood said he went through the same thoughts and struggles during his career changes. The grind of urban police work takes its toll, he said, recalling that he sent out about 60 resumes over two years before leaving Philadelphia.

“How many doors can you kick in; how many dead bodies can you see in your life?” he said.

The father and son usually talk every day, sometimes four or five times.

“My relationship with Dad has gone full circle,” Chitwood Jr. said. As a young boy going to Phillies and 76ers games, he idolized his outspoken father, even though his father often worked 16-hour days. Chitwood Jr. rebelled against his father as a teenager, and for a while he wanted to be anything but a cop.

But after a few semesters at West Chester University, Chitwood Jr. entered the police academy. Just as his father had, he rose through the ranks, collecting medals and critics.

And now, he is moving on.

“This must be in my genes,” he said.