HPD works on staffing issues
By Terry Murry on Monday, August 23rd, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston sums up how staffing is going at the department with one word – difficult.
“Since last summer we’ve had two tenured officers just decide to get out of law enforcement altogether,” he said. “We’ve also encouraged a couple of officers to broaden their career by going somewhere else.”
Edmiston’s last four hires have been entry-level positions, which he said the department prefers so it can train and mold its officers into what the department needs. The problem with entry level though is that the officers must go to the state police academy for training. Last summer, classes were delayed frequently due to COVID-19.
There are currently two HPD recruits at the academy, and one of them is in a holding pattern.
“He’s in his 11th week,” Edmiston said. “That class just got postponed for three weeks because they had some positive tests.”
The other recruit is entering his fourth week, and Edmiston said so far his classes are going off as scheduled. “We see some normalcy on the horizon, but it’s been awhile to get there,” Edmiston said.
