Reserve police officers are making a comeback in Port Angeles.
After four years, Police Chief Tom Riepe says it’s time to resurrect the volunteer force, an old ally familiar to other North Olympic Peninsula law enforcement agencies from Port Townsend to Sequim to Forks.
“I think it’s really going to be good for the community and good for the Police Department,” Riepe said in an interview.
He hopes to recruit and train six to eight reserve officers this year to augment his 28 commissioned officers in their duties.
Applications for the Port Angeles reserve police officer program are available at the Police Department, 321 E. Fifth St.
Riepe says he’s a believer in “community policing,” and says candidates for the reserve officer program “have to like people.”
“They have to be problem-solvers,” he said. “They have to be a reserve officer for the right reasons.”
The department’s reserve officer program was disbanded in 1998, when only two volunteers remained.
But Riepe said the interest of other officers to reinstate the program has compelled the department to launch a new effort for volunteer reserves.
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The rest of this story appears in today’s Peninsula Daily News Clallam County edition. Click on “Subscribe” to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.