HPD is growing stronger
By Terry Murry on Friday, June 14th, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HERMISTON – The Hermiston Police Department will see seven new full-time officers funded by the budget that goes into effect July 1. One of those officers has already been hired due to a supplemental budget and four of them will be funded by Good Shepherd Health Care System.
Additional funding for the positions comes from a variety of sources. A $5 law enforcement staffing fee, state and federal grants, a business license fee, and cuts to street maintenance are some of the revenue streams being tapped by the city. Once the new officers are all onboard, that will give Hermiston 37 full-time officers.
Police Chief Jason Edmiston said the growth, while a long time in coming, is welcome.
“The last couple of budget sessions have been challenging for the police department because I have always told my boss (City Manager Byron Smith) I will not haphazardly ask for police officers until such a time that we need them,” he said. “That time came around the pandemic and we know everything that followed was difficult to say the least. We worked together and found a path that hopefully will be ‘felt’ by the citizens when they call asking for our services.”
Edmiston is a Hermiston native and has worked with HPD for 27 years. He’s seen the city grow and is glad the police department is beginning to keep pace with that growth.
“When I started with the Hermiston Police Department, our minimum officer per shift staffing was two, he said. “Fast forward 27 years later and an increase in population of 84% (11,061 to 20,322), and our minimum staffing still was two officers. We will be quickly migrating to a minimum staffing level of three and once we fully experience the hospital contract, that number will be four.”
For 10 years, the chief has been talking to Good Shepherd about the growth of the hospital and how that could mean a new beat for additional officers. Chief Executive Officer Art Mathisen came through in the most recent meeting.
“Around 2014, I had approached Good Shepherd Hospital to ask about the growth of their campus and how they see that impacting our agency,” he said. “At that time, there was no interest in forming a partnership. Several years later and with a new CEO, I approached the hospital in the same manner. Again, there was no desire. I was made aware of some comments now hospital CEO Art Mathisen had made to his staff and when he reached out asking for a meeting, I was prepared to discuss a possible partnership. It is common in cities for officers to be assigned to hospitals and yet I am also aware contracting for police services based on a set number of hours per month is an equation for someone to not be happy. It made the most sense to call the hospital a beat and staff it 24/7. CEO Mathisen agreed, and we are excited to be working through hiring four additional officers.”
Edmiston says once all the officers are hired, the department will have 25 sworn officers dedicated to patrol on 12-hour shifts. Each of those teams will have one sergeant, one corporal and four officers. Edmiston said the department will also go back to having an officer dedicated to traffic since those are the number-one concerns listed by the public.
It will be a while before the new officers are trained and able to operate independently. However, the chief says it won’t take as long as it used to take.
“The Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) has done a great job of lowering the wait time to get new officers into the basic police academy,” he said. “From the time an officer tests with us to the point where they are on the street working in a solo capacity, is about 40 weeks, so investing in the right people to do this job is mission-critical.”
