PONDERAY — Over the last two months, the Ponderay Police Department has sworn in two officers and a police chief.

Michael Watkins, the newest patrol officer on the force, was sworn in Monday during the Ponderay City Council meeting. Watkins recently moved to the area from Phenix City, Ala. and said he really likes the area.

"It's amazing," he said. "The people are amazing here. It's a whole different world."

He referred to the area as "old school" where people still hold the door open for others and are more personable, which he said, in his opinion, is a learned behavior. 

"If you've got a decent home life, people are going to act different," he said, adding that he also liked the people where he lived in Alabama, although they were a little "rougher," but he had no family there.

Watkins worked in law enforcement in Phenix City for five years — to the day — before moving to Ponderay. The reason he decided to come to North Idaho is because his brother lives in the Bottle Bay area in Sagle with a wife and kids. He would visit them on occasion and last winter, "on a whim," Watkins decided to put his name in at the Ponderay PD in case they were hiring.

Watkins traveled between Alabama and North Idaho to do the testing and officially began working with the Ponderay department on Sept. 25. On the day of his swearing-in ceremony, Watkins made his first felony arrest in the area for possession of methamphetamine with a misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Officer Ian Smith is another new addition to the department. Smith was sworn in Aug. 15 and Ponderay Police Chief Jimmy Cornelius said he is now in phase two of the Field Training Officer program. Cornelius said the new officers are a good addition to the department.

"At this point we have no concerns that either one of them are not going to fulfill everything that we need," he said.

Cornelius said the department is not expanding, but there has been a bit of turnover recently. He said they were short one position for a few months, and when Chief Mike Hutter retired in May, another position opened up as Cornelius moved into the position of chief.

Cornelius is a 21-year veteran of the department and was sworn in Aug. 1, following the retirement of Hutter.

Prior to Watkins' swearing-in ceremony Monday, Mayor Steve Geiger presented Hutter, who also attended the meeting, with a glass-encased display of badges, patches and handcuffs for his 19 years of "commitment and dedication" to the city of Ponderay.

Hutter said he enjoyed his service to the city and feels the department is in good hands.

"I think Jimmy is doing an awesome job and will take the city to the next step and do what needs to be done," Hutter said.

Hutter worked with the Sandpoint Police Department for seven years prior to starting at the Ponderay department on May 1, 1997. Since his retirement, he started working for the Sandpoint Police Department again part-time as a patrol officer.