Chief to seek 9th officer
By Kevin O’Brien
Police chief Jason Bauer told the police commission Monday that he will be proposing the addition of a ninth officer to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department in 2021.
With the growing population in Abbotsford, Bauer said he’s looking for ways to fund an additional officer to handle the extra workload. He said he’s exploring some ideas and will eventually present a full proposal to the commission.
The most recent addition to the CAPD was the school resource officer (SRO), who was hired in 2018 with financial assistance from the Colby and Abbotsford school districts. The total cost of the SRO position was $71,575, with the districts covering 75 percent of that amount.
Before that, a seventh officer was added to the police force in 2017 after years of resistance by local elected officials. Former chief Ron Gosse first proposed the seventh officer in 2013, but it failed to get enough support until 2016, when the two city councils approved the position.
At that time, the addition of seventh offi cer added nearly $74,000 to the police department’s annual budget to cover wages and benefits.
Prior to that, the CAPD had six fulltime officers, including the chief, going back to 1995. In 2013, Gosse told Abbotsford’s council that arrests had gone up 40 percent since the sixth officer was added. The police department’s 2020 budget includes just over $532,000 for wages and another $136,650 for health insurance premiums. This covers the seven officers and the secretary/ordinance officer.
It’s uncertain at this point how receptive city council members will be to adding a new officer. In recent years, city officials have asked the department to spend down the money it has in savings to offset its annual budget requests.
Other business
_ Abbotsford Mayor Lori Voss, who is also an EMT, asked Bauer what would happen to the department’s drug-sniffing dog, Dodge, if the K-9 handler, officer Jim Wagner, were to become incapacitated for some reason.
Bauer said Dodge is familiar with the other officers on the department and should follow their commands.
“Any of our officers would be fine with it,” Bauer said, noting that Wagner rarely works alone.
Voss asked that a formal protocol be provided to local EMTs so they know what to do if they encounter the dog without its handler.
_ During his monthly chief’s report, Bauer said the department is working with the U.S. Marshals and the FBI to track down the two suspects in the Feb. 16 shooting at the Northside Apartments in Abbotsford. He said the Clark County Sheriff’s Department has also provided a lot of assistance in canvassing the neighborhood and executing search warrants.
Bauer said nine search warrants have been executed so far as part of the search for the two attempted homicide suspects. He said an attorney for one of the suspects contacted the police department, but he’s not sure if that will lead to the suspect turning himself in.
_ The commission approved $21,053 in monthly bills.
