Baker City hires new police officer, department now fully staffed
By Joe Hathaway on Wednesday, June 12th, 2024 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY — The Baker City Police Department (BCPD) is now fully staffed, thanks to the recent hiring of a new officer.
The department recently announced it had hired Reyan Wenzel as a new patrol officer. BCPD Officer Manager Stacy Spriet says Wenzel’s hiring has brought the staffing levels back to a full and normal 15.
“Reyan is gearing up to begin his journey at the police academy at the end of June, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him on board,” said a post on the department’s Facebook issue.
This is the fourth new officer hired this year, which was a goal of Chief Ty Duby’s to bring staffing levels back to normal.
The department has been dealing with staffing issues for a significant amount of time. It reached a point last November, when Duby announced that the department would end 24-hour patrols.
This past April, after announcing the hiring of three new officers, Duby says his department was considering returning to officers patrolling 24 hours a day.
Since November, Baker City officers haven’t patrolled during a four-or five-hour period in the early morning, usually 2:00am to 6:00am or 3:00am to 7:00am. Police have continued to respond to certain calls during that period, such as crimes against a person in progress. A police supervisor is on duty at all times, and if a call from dispatch involves certain crimes in progress, such as an assault, the supervisor can assign an officer to respond.
“We always have and will continue to respond to calls that need to be responded to,” Duby said in April.
