Here’s another update on Officer Baird at the Idaho POST Academy.

Patrol #181 is off to a great start for week 3. Everyone took, and passed, the Law Week Exam. The class average was 89.4, which is pretty high considering the topic and the amount of material covered.

This week is Drug ID and Investigation, Domestic Violence, Special Needs Citizens, CPR & First Aid, Active Countermeasures, and a Thursday/Friday full of Arrest Techniques and Reactive Impact Weapons (batons). There will be some Domestic Violence Scenarios on Tuesday Evening.

Looks like Officer Baird is learning a lot at the Academy and doing well!

By Joelyn Hansen

Remember Officer Baird? He’s one of our newest patrol officers that was sworn in recently. He’s currently attending the Idaho POST academy.

We received an update on what they’ve completed in the first week. Thought perhaps it would be fun to share with our readers.

The Patrol Academy #181, which graduates Oct. 21, spent the first week covering drill & ceremony, report writing, use of force, effective communication, and the lecture portions of firearms, defensive tactics, and marksmanship.

They also got their first introduction to scenarios and a full day of arrest techniques.

This class took their first test, covering topics from last week as well as some of the pre-academy course work. Everyone passed and the class average was 86.5%. We love to brag, so we’ll tell you that Officer Baird scored a 97%. We’ve heard it was the highest score…..but we don’t know that for sure. We’re proud of him either way.

Stay tuned for more updates!

By Joelyn Hansen

The wonders of social media continue to amaze me. You never know what can happen.

A few weeks ago we honored Officer Shawn Williams with a Life-Saving award for his efforts in saving a man’s life. As the first to respond, Officer Williams found a man, unconscious and not breathing. He went into rescue mode and began CPR until paramedics arrived.

We posted about Officer Williams’ recognition on Facebook. The post found its way to the man’s wife. Up until this point, the IFPD really didn’t know what had become of the man or how he was doing.

But, luckily through social media, we were able to connect with him and his wife. We were able to find out how he was doing and she was able to find out who the officer was that saved her husband’s life.

What a great story, right? We think so. Nothing like ending a story on even better note!

I’ve posted a video of Officer Williams receiving his award. Feel free to take a look!

Sarah Hendry and Ashley Moore pin badges on their husbands, Chris Hendry and Coleman Moore, during their swearing in ceremony on Sept. 22.

By Joelyn Hansen

Our police department grew by two on Monday. Actually, I should rephrase that, we thankfully filled to two vacant positions with two awesome new officers.

We didn’t have to look very far to find Coleman Moore and Chris Hendry. They’ve been working as dispatchers. They tested with the police department for a patrol officer spot last summer. Unfortunately, at the time we didn’t have spots available for them. But, with all the retirements, we finally had some openings and they slid perfectly into those spots.

Officers Coleman Moore and Chris Hendry

Let me tell you a little bit about Coleman and Chris….

Coleman, who graduated from Bonneville High School in 2003, has worked many years in law enforcement in some capacity. He worked as a juvenile detention officer at the 3B Detention Center and for the last two years as a dispatcher at the Idaho Falls Bonneville County Dispatch Center.

He’s also a member of the Idaho National Guard.

He is graduate from Brigham Young University-Idaho with his bachelor’s in emergency services administration. He and his wife, Ashley, of 10 years have three children and a baby due in November.

Chris, who is a native of Georgia, also started his work at IFPD as a dispatcher at the Idaho Falls Bonneville County Dispatch Center. He was hired in April 2013.

Hendry is a member of the Army Reserves. He graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2013 with his bachelor’s in business administration. He is currently working on his master’s in criminal justice at the University of Phoenix.

He and his wife, Sarah, of eight years have two children.

We think they’ll both be very successful in wearing the IFPD badge carrying on the tradition of professionalism, respect, trust and integrity.

By Joelyn Hansen

Sarah Hendry & Ashley Moore pin badges on their husbands, Chris Hendry and Coleman Moore, during their swearing in ceremony on Monday (Sept. 22).

Our police department grew by two on Monday. Actually, I should rephrase that, we thankfully filled to two vacant positions with two awesome new officers.

We didn’t have to look very far to find Coleman Moore and Chris Hendry. They’ve been working as dispatchers. They tested with the police department for a patrol officer spot last summer. Unfortunately, at the time we didn’t have spots available for them. But, with all the retirements, we finally had some openings and they slid perfectly into those spots.

Let me tell you a little bit about Coleman and Chris….

Coleman, who graduated from Bonneville High School in 2003, has worked many years in law enforcement in some capacity. He worked as a juvenile detention officer at the 3B Detention Center and for the last two years as a dispatcher at the Idaho Falls Bonneville County Dispatch Center.

He’s also a member of the Idaho National Guard.

He is graduate from Brigham Young University-Idaho with his bachelor’s in emergency services administration. He and his wife, Ashley, of 10 years have three children and a baby due in November.

Chris, who is a native of Georgia, also started his work at IFPD as a dispatcher at the Idaho Falls Bonneville County Dispatch Center. He was hired in April 2013.

Hendry is a member of the Army Reserves. He graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2013 with his bachelor’s in business administration. He is currently working on his master’s in criminal justice at the University of Phoenix.

Officers Coleman Moore and Chris Hendry

He and his wife, Sarah, of eight years have two children.

We think they’ll both be very successful in wearing the IFPD badge carrying on the tradition of professionalism, respect, trust and integrity.

Now on to filling the other five vacant positions….

Officers Hendry and Moore Sworn In

Idaho Falls Mayor Rebecca Casper officially swore in the city’s newest police officers, Chris Hendry and Coleman Moore, in council chambers on Monday.

“You’re joining a force that has a reputation for providing a safe community,” Mayor Casper said during the ceremony. “It’s up to you that every positive association that the community has with seeing a uniform continues to be a positive association in their mind.”

Officer Moore, who graduated from Bonneville High School in 2003, has worked many years in law enforcement. He worked as a juvenile detention officer at the 3B Detention Center and for the last two years as a dispatcher at the Idaho Falls Bonneville County Dispatch Center.

He said he’s looking forward now to making the switch from the job as a dispatcher to a police officer.

“It’s an opportunity now to get more face-to-face with people and being able to follow-up and see calls through to the end,” he said.

Moore is a member of the Idaho National Guard. He is also a 2011 graduate from Brigham Young University-Idaho with his bachelor’s in emergency services administration.

He and his wife, Ashley, of 10 years have three children and a baby due in November.

Officer Hendry, who is a native of Georgia, also started his work at IFPD as a dispatcher at the Idaho Falls Bonneville County Dispatch Center. He was hired in April 2013.

Hendry said he’s always strived to work in law enforcement.

“I just feel like I need to do something to contribute to the community,” he said. “I value the freedoms we have and I wanted to do something to defend those freedoms.”

Hendry is a member of the Army Reserves. He graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2013 with his bachelor’s in business administration. He is currently working on his master’s in criminal justice at the University of Phoenix.

He and his wife, Sarah, of eight years have two children.

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I’ve been meaning to blog for a while now. There is certainly a lot of things happening at the IFPD that are worth a mention.

First of all, the IFPD said many goodbyes this summer as we had 7 police officers retire. Sgt. Phil Grimes, detectives Curtis Bateman, Steve Barnes, Brent Lawrence and officers Mark Burnell, Kevin Pettingill and Lynn Case all retired. I blogged about some of those retirements earlier.

Kevin Pettingill

Brent Lawrence

Mark Burnell

Lynn Case

Steve Barnes, Phil Grimes & Curtis Bateman

That was 210 years of experience that left the department. We’re certainly happy for them as they enter retirement, but they will be missed.

With retirements comes of course the opportunity to fill positions with new hires. Thankfully, after the budget process we were able to fill all of our vacant positions.

We were able to hire three people right away. Jon Baird was sworn in on Aug. 25 and is currently attending the Idaho POST academy in Meridian.

Officer Jon Baird

Next Monday, Sept. 22, we’ll swear in Coleman Moore and Chris Hendry (both of whom currently work for the IFPD as dispatchers).

All three are great new hires!

In August we also had 100 people that took the civil service test and then the top 32 people from the test went through the panel interview and agility test. From these candidates will fill the remaining vacant positions.

As I write this, the chief and the captains are interviewing perspective new officer hires. We could have some good news in the next coming weeks!

Along with the retirements and hires, there was a shake-up with captain assignments in August. Capt. Clements is now overseeing patrol, Capt. Cook is overseeing detectives and Capt. Cawley is overseeing IFPD services (animal control, dispatch, training and records).

This will hopefully be a great way to allow for different perspectives on how divisions are operated.

Anyway….as you can tell it’s been a busy summer here at the IFPD!

I’ve been meaning to blog for a while now. There is certainly a lot of things happening at the IFPD that are worth a mention.

First of all, the IFPD said many goodbyes this summer as we had 7 police officers retire. Sgt. Phil Grimes, detectives Curtis Bateman, Steve Barnes, Brent Lawrence and officers Mark Burnell, Kevin Pettingill and Lynn Case all retired.

That was 210 years of experience that left the department. We’re certainly happy for them as they enter retirement, but they will be missed.

With retirements comes of course the opportunity to fill positions with new hires. Thankfully, after the budget process we were able to fill all of our vacant positions.

We were able to hire three people right away. Jon Baird was sworn in on Aug. 25 and is currently attending the Idaho POST academy in Meridian. Next Monday, Sept. 22, we’ll swear in Coleman Moore and Chris Hendry (both of whom currently work for the IFPD as dispatchers).

All three are great new hires!

In August we also had 100 people that took the civil service test and then the top 32 people from the test went through the panel interview and agility test. From these candidates will fill the remaining vacant positions.

As I write this, the chief and the captains are interviewing perspective new officer hires. We could have some good news in the next coming weeks!

Along with the retirements and hires, there was a shake-up with captain assignments in August. Capt. Clements is now overseeing patrol, Capt. Cook is overseeing detectives and Capt. Cawley is overseeing IFPD services (animal control, dispatch, training and records).

This will hopefully be a great way to allow for different perspectives on how divisions are operated.

Retirees Detective Steve Barnes, Sgt. Phil Grimes & Detective Curtis Bateman

Officer Mark Burnell

Officer Kevin Pettingill

Detective Brent Lawrence

Traffic Officer Lynn Case

Anyway….as you can tell it’s been a busy summer here at the IFPD!