School liaison officer promoted to lieutenant
The Medford police department will have a new second in command.
Members of the city’s police and fire commission promoted officer Jason Lang for the position of lieutenant in the department. He will take over the position following the retirement of longtime lieutenant Rob Horenberger.
Lang is a 12-year veteran of the Medford Police Department and for the past five years has been the school liaison offi cer working in the school buildings on a daily basis.
Lang said the promotion will be a new challenge for him and an opportunity to step up in the department and see what he can do to help things continue to run smoothly.
In the Medford police department, the lieutenant provides support for the police chief working in areas such as armament, keeping track of squad maintenance, payroll with scheduling and reviewing reports from officers. In addition, he will assist in staffing investigations as they come up.
Lang said he would miss working in the school. “The biggest thing is the daily interaction with the kids and staff,” he said. “I got to know the kids and being with them on a daily basis will be the biggest thing I will miss.”
Lang said working with the schools has been a major help for him in his job noting that he has developed relationships with people that help him when he sees them in other settings. “You see different sides of people and activities,” he said.
Lang described the interview process for the position as being rigorous, but felt it was necessary to try for it. In a comparatively small department such as Medford’s there are often not opportunities for advancement so he felt it was important to try for the position.
He said all of the applicants for the position had many years of experience in law enforcement. He said the questions asked by members of the police and fire commission were challenging. “There were a few that I wasn’t perfectly prepared for,” he said.
Lang describes the Medford Police Department as being a good group of people and everybody being really close knit. He looked forward to helping keep that level of professionalism and support going forward. During the transition, Lang is working with Horenberger to learn the position and will be taking over later this month.
