It seemed spring finally arrived and with the warmer weather and Memorial Day Weekend, police were busy with the unofficial kickoff of summer. Traffic congestion was heavy during that holiday weekend but there were no serious traffic accidents and aside from a few angry motorists, all went well.

Scheduling issues are the main concern with the police department at this time as we now have two officers that are out with injuries. Officers Wetherbee and Sytsma are both out for an undetermined amount of time. Officer Wetherbee underwent surgery to repair his ankle and Officer Sytsma has a broken bone in his right hand. I have no hard dates for the return of either officer. This has put a strain on our schedule and overtime has increased as a result of this. Patrol slots that are vacant have to be filled. I’m hoping for a speedy recovery from both officers. Officer Wetherbee is currently on light duty and helping us at the office.

The written test and Oregon Physical Abilities Test (ORPAT) were completed this month for the new recruit position the police department has open at this time. Interviews are scheduled for June 9th and I hope to make an offer to one of the applicants shortly after the interview process is completed. With summer quickly approaching, i’m hoping to get a new officer started as quickly as possible.

Sgt. Shawn Burns hosted multiple groups of preschoolers at the police department. This has become an annual event. The preschoolers, teachers and parents were treated to a tour of the police department and of course had a chance to push some buttons in a cruiser. Sgt. Burns was exhausted as a result of all the little ones coming through. He did a wonderful job as always.