Hermiston budget doesn’t fund extra officers yet

By Terry Murry on Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HERMISTON – The city of Hermiston continues to grow, but the Hermiston Police Department is not keeping up with that growth. Police Chief Jason Edmiston said that the city has 1.5 officers per 1,000 population now. The budget calls for the addition of three new officers.

“We’re clearly behind the ball and by adding three officers, that would bring us up to 1.65,” Edmiston said.

Currently, both the Boardman and Umatilla police departments are above the 2.0 per 1,000. Pendleton is at 1.79. Generally, 2 to 2.4 is considered good.

While the officers are in the budget, the money to pay them isn’t. Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said the three additional officer are only a narrative.

“The narrative speaks to the policy plan,” Morgan wrote in an email. “The plan is to add three more officers during the budget year, which will require a supplemental budget to increase the expense when it can balance against the revenue.”