The Hermiston Police Department announced some organizational changes including the promotion of Sgt. Scott Clark to captain.
Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston said Clark will shadow Cpt. Captain Darryl Johnson who is slated to retire in June after serving almost 20 years with Hermiston and 25 years total as a police officer in the state of Oregon. Clark was raised in Hermiston and graduated from Hermiston High School in 1993. He has been a full-time law enforcement officer since 1997 starting with the Umatilla Police Department and then coming to HPD in 2005. Clark was promoted to sergeant in 2012. Clark’s promotion will take effect in May.
An internal sergeant selection process will be conducted in the coming months to replace Clark’s position.
In mid-June, after Hermiston schools are released for summer break, School Resource Officer Tim Miears will rotate to a Training Officer/Field Evidence Technician position. Miears will report directly to Edmiston and will be responsible for the processing of all evidence for HPD. Miears will also be responsible for the entire training program at HPD (currently budgeted at $35,000 for 27 sworn officers and 3 civilian positions) to include tracking information that ensures officers receive adequate schooling with the ever changing best practices in policing today.
Earlier, in October, the Hermiston Police Department, in conjunction with the Hermiston School District, implemented a second school resource officer (SRO). After serving 11 years as a reserve officer with Hermiston, Administrative Assistant/Evidence Technician Betty Nava was selected to assume the role of SRO. Officer Nava will be reporting to the 16-week basic police academy in Salem this February.
On July 1st, 2017 Detective Randy Studebaker will be promoted to Investigative Lieutenant. Studebaker will have two general detectives and one drug detective assigned to the drug task force under his command. Studebaker has been with HPD since 2012 and previously served for nine years (six of those years as a sergeant) with the Gilliam County Sheriff’s Office. This position is a partnership with Umatilla County Fire District 1 as they will contribute $12,000 annually to ensure adequate investigation takes place on any suspicious fire within their entire district. Studebaker will be attending a two-week arson investigation school at the National Fire Academy in Maryland in the spring and a four-week supervisor school in Texas this June.
