Pendleton Police Department has no job openings
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, October 4th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Pendleton Police Department has no job openings for the first time in two years. Lt. Tony Nelson said that PPD, like other law enforcement agencies, was having trouble hiring initially but went with a national testing service that helped open doors.
“It took us two years to get 13 officers, to get us fully staffed,” he said. “To a degree, we’re fully staffed. We don’t have any open positions.”
While there are no openings, that doesn’t mean all of the officers are hitting the streets any time soon.
“In those two years, we’ve turned two out on their own,” Nelson said. “We have two more that are in training for about another three to four weeks before they’ll be turned out solo. We have three officers at the police academy, and two that are ready to go. One will leave in a week and a half, and another will leave next month.”
The training doesn’t mean just attending the 16-week course at the police academy in Salem. Graduates return with a training manual and a training officer must check them out on a number of items before they can ride solo.
“We truly won’t be fully staffed with all officers on the street on their own until probably next June or July,” he said. “It’s a very long process, but we see a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s just a really long tunnel to get there.”
