RCPD gains officer, opts to buy patrol car
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 12 months AGO
Hannah Soelter, right, is sworn in as a Royal City Police officer by Mayor Kent Anderson at Tuesday’s city council meeting. Soelter has been training with various agencies around the Basin for several weeks now.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | September 7, 2022 3:21 PM
ROYAL CITY — Royal City got a new police officer Tuesday evening and will be getting another patrol vehicle as well.
Officer Hanna Soelter was sworn in at the Royal City City Council meeting Tuesday by Mayor Kent Anderson. Soelter spent three weeks starting in late July in training with the Moses Lake Police Department, then spent another three weeks with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Royal City Police Chief Rey Rodriguez said at the meeting. She’s spent the last two weeks riding with Rodriguez, he said, and will do so for about three more before going on patrol on her own.
“She's doing very well,” Rodriguez said. “I'm just kind of riding along and guiding her. She's very up-to-date with her revised codes, her laws (and) procedures. So (she’s) just getting the experience out there.”
Rodriguez also brought up the possibility of buying a patrol car, a 2017 Dodge Charger, from the Soap Lake Police Department. The council, at its July 20 meeting, had discussed buying the car for $35,000, or else entering into a rental agreement until a new vehicle was delivered. The council passed up the opportunity at the time, as the Ford Explorer that had been ordered from the state was due to arrive this month. Circumstances have changed since then, Rodriguez said.
“Last week, I got a cancellation for all 2022 orders. So our order for our patrol car has been cut. I have to put in a new order for 2023 for a patrol vehicle. I called up Chief Cox again today from Soap Lake and asked him about possibly renting. He said his mayor is probably not going to be up to that, but he did possibly drop the price of the Charger.”
The City of Soap Lake is now willing to accept $30,000 for the vehicle, Rodriguez said. The unmarked car will have all the necessary police equipment: lights, sirens, hard plastic rear seats and so forth. The only thing SLPD will retain is the radio, which is a kind Royal City doesn’t use anyway. RCPD already has a radio on order for the Explorer, which now might arrive next summer at the earliest, and more likely in September or October 2023, Rodriguez said.
Anderson was a little skeptical about buying a used vehicle.
“My only concern is we really didn't have that good of luck with our other Chargers,” he said. “But I think if we use this right ... and you're not going you know 100 and hitting the brakes and doing all that stuff, it would probably be better. I mean, by the time you get a new car and you put in all that stuff, you're really at about $80,000, and so it's probably not that bad of investment to go $30,000.”
The council voted unanimously to purchase the Charger.
Joel Martin can be reached via email at [email protected].
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.