PORT TOWNSEND – A new police officer is on patrol.
Officer Jeremy Vergin joined the Port Townsend Police Department on Oct. 1.
He recently completed the third week of an on-the-job training period that lasts a minimum of three months.
During the training phase, Vergin worked alongside experienced officers to hone skills taught in the police academy, learn department policy and procedures, and get to know the geography of Port Townsend.
Vergin, 33, grew up in Minnesota and served five years in the Navy.
In 2008, he moved to Jefferson County and joined the Sheriff’s Office as a corrections deputy in the jail in Port Hadlock.
He became a reserve sheriff’s deputy in 2011 and graduated from the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission Basic Law Enforcement Academy in July 2012.
Vergin replaces an officer who left the department in February.
The department has a commissioned staff of 15 comprised of the chief, deputy chief, two sergeants, two detectives, and nine officers. The patrol staff is complemented by one reserve officer.