PPD gets staffing relief and a grant for more
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – There is light at the end of the tunnel for the understaffed Pendleton Police Department. Chief Chuck Byram said he has hired three officers and, thanks to a federal grant, is preparing to hire two more in 2023.
One of the new hires, Adam Nell, will graduate from the police academy in Salem Friday. Byram said he has also hired Dakotta Bridges and Kaden Ongers. There won’t be room for them to attend the academy until April and May, but Byram said they are officer material and if he had waited until those academy dates moved closer, they might not have been available. In the meantime, he said there is plenty they can do as they wait for classes to start.
The chief learned recently that his application for a Community-Oriented Policing grant from the U.S. Justice Department has been approved. The department will receive $250,000 to help meet the cost of a new community-oriented policing program. Community Counseling Solutions and Umatilla County Community Corrections are working with PPD to create a new beat in Pendleton.
“We will use the downtown corridor from Fraser up Main Street and then both the east and west river levee and the adjacent parks,” Byram said of the beat that will be established next year. “That will be an additional beat. We will partner with those two other entities and we will clearly focus on finding resources and holding those accountable who are addicted or suffering mental health issues. It seems they use that corridor a lot. We’re going to engage them a whole lot more and we’re going to try to come up with a plan that will get them off the streets and engaged with services.”
Byram said the two new officers will set the framework for having the new beat staffed around the clock. Getting the program in place and training the new officers will take time, but Byram hopes it will be up and running within a year or a year and a half.
