Officer Garret Thornton was sworn in on October 2nd and started his work schedule with the Police Department on that day. Officer Thornton is our newest full time police officer and was formerly one of our reserve officers. He is excited to have the opportunity and we are all happy to have him as the newest member of our department. Officer Thornton began his field training immediately and has just started the police academy in Salem. He will spend 16 weeks at the Basic Academy before coming back to us to continue with his field training. We are hoping to complete all of his training by April of 2018.

An update on our fleet. All of our new vehicles are in the rotation with the exception of one, our code enforcement van. Code Enforcement Officer Moody anxiously awaits the arrival. The current vehicle he is driving is old, not safe and certainly not fuel efficient. The new van has shipped and we are waiting for it to be delivered to our upfitter for the appropriate equipment to be installed. We hope to have the vehicle on the road before the end of the year.

In other news, our own Officer Wetherbee is still on light duty. We are hoping to have him back to full duty by February of 2018. This has put a strain on our already short staff. He is doing well but is excited to get back to his duties as school resource officer for our department.