CPPD gains 2 new officers
By Dan Thesman on Friday, December 13th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
COLLEGE PLACE – The College Place Police Department commissioned two new officers, Estela Gonzalez and Courtney Kates, at this week’s city council meeting. Both officers grew up in Walla Walla and want to serve the community.
Gonzalez and Kates are the first two College Place officers to have graduated from the new Basic Law Enforcement Academy in Pasco. It is part of a centralized training model to help train officers locally while increasing training classes to meet the state’s need for more law enforcement officers, as Washington state has the fewest officers per capita in the United States.
The officers were sworn in by Chief Troy Tomaras after they completed five months at the academy and 12 weeks of field training. Their addition to CPPD increases current patrol staffing to 11.
Photo via College Place Police Department
