New officers may mean the return of 24-hour police patrols in Baker City

BAKER CITY — The recent additions of new police officers in Baker City may mean the return of 24-hour patrols.

The Baker City Police Department recently announced the hiring of three officers to help fill the ranks of the understaffed department. The latest officer on the force is Kyle Loomis, who will attend training academy in April. In March, the department announced it hired two other officers, with one also having to attend academy, but another being a lateral hire, which means he’s already patrolling Baker streets. 

The department has been dealing with staffing issues for a significant amount of time. It reached a point where last November, Duby announced that the department would end 24-hour patrols.

Now with staffing almost to full levels, Chief Ty Duby says his department is considering returning to officers patrolling 24 hours a day. 

“Hopefully in the next month or so we can get back to 24 coverage,” says Chief Duby.  “Once school is out we have our School Resource Officer that goes to patrol.”

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,” said Duby.

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Elkhorn Media Group